Greenpeace warns of coal-powered cloud

 

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By Reuters

Posted on 30 Mar 2010 at 09:42

The 'cloud' of data that is becoming the heart of the internet is creating an all-too-real cloud of pollution, according to Greenpeace.

A Facebook facility being built in Oregon will be largely fuelled by coal, while Apple is building a data warehouse in North Carolina region that relies mostly on coal, the environmental organisation claims in a new study.

"The last thing we need is for more cloud infrastructure to be built in places where it increases demand for dirty coal-fired power," said Greenpeace, which argues that web companies should be more careful about where they build and should lobby more in Washington for clean energy.

The last thing we need is for more cloud infrastructure to be built in places where it increases demand for dirty coal-fired power

The growing mass of business data, home movies and pictures has ballooned beyond the capabilities of many corporate data centers and PCs, spurring the creation of massive server farms that make up "the cloud".

Data center energy use is already huge, Greenpeace said. If considered as a country, the global telecommunications and data centers behind cloud computing would be ranked fifth in the world for energy use in 2007, behind the US, China, Russia and Japan, it concluded.

The cloud may be the fastest-growing facet of technology infrastructure between now and 2020, Greenpeace added.

The Greenpeace report comes during a global debate on whether to create caps or other measures to cut use of carbon-heavy fuels such as coal, and curb climate change.

Cheap and plentiful, coal is the top fuel for US power plants, and its low cost versus alternative fuels makes it attractive, even in highly energy-efficient data centers. Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo and Google have at least some centers that rely heavily on coal power, said Greenpeace.

Corporate secrets

Most of the companies declined to give details of their data centers. All said, however, they considered the environment in business decisions, and most said they were aggressively pursuing energy efficiency.

Apple, for example, has released its carbon footprint (or how much greenhouse gases it produce), and Facebook said it chose the location for its center to use natural means to cool its machines.

Microsoft said it aimed to maximise efficiency, and Google said it purchased carbon offsets - funding for projects which suck up carbon - for emissions, including at data centers.

Yahoo, which is building a center near Buffalo, New York, that Greenpeace saw as a model, will get energy from hydroelectric facilities. The company said energy-efficiency was its top goal, with a building design that promotes air circulation.