Cloud Computing could end up fuelling a massive carbon footprint according to Greenpeace which has criticised Cloud vendors for encouraging the growth of massive coal-powered data centres.
Many private and public sector organisations argue that Cloud Computing does greatly improve energy usage and emissions totals. But a new report from Greenpeace - Make IT Green: Cloud Computing and its Contribution to Climate Change - claims that based on current rates of growth, data centres and telecoms infrastructure will consume about 1,963 billion kilowatts hours of electricity in 2020, more than triple their current consumption and more than France, Germany, Canada and Brazil combined.
The organisation argues that Cloud Computing inevitably leads to more data being stored remotely on servers which in turn leads IT firms to invest in ever larger data centres. These data centres are typically coal-powered and as such contribute to an ever greater carbon footprint problem.
Greenpeace argues: “Cloud Computing is growing at a time when climate change and reducing emissions from energy use is of paramount concern. With the growth of the cloud, however, comes an increasing demand for energy. For all of this content to be delivered to us in real time, virtual mountains of video, pictures and other data must be stored somewhere and be available for almost instantaneous access. That ‘somewhere’ is data centres - massive storage facilities that consume incredible amounts of energy."
Facebook is picked out for particular criticism. Greenpeace says: "In January 2010, Facebook commissioned a new data centre in Oregon and committed to a power service provider agreement with PacificCorp, a utility that gets the majority of its energy from coal-fired power stations, the United States’ largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Effectively becoming an industrial-scale consumer of electricity, Facebook now faces the same choices and challenges that other large Cloud Computing companies have in building their data centres. With a premium being placed on access to the cheapest electricity available on the grid. In many countries, this means dirty coal."
The iPad factor
Greenpeace also jumped on the iPad bandwagon, suggesting that Apple's new tablet computer will make a bad situation even worse. “The launch of quintessential Cloud Computing devices like the Apple iPad, which offer users access to the "Cloud" of online services like social networks and video streaming, can contribute to a much larger carbon footprint of the Information Technology (IT) sector than previously estimated,” argues Greenpeace. “We are not picking on Apple. We are not dissing the iPad. But maybe someone can come up with an app that calculates the carbon footprint of using different web sites based on their location and energy deals. Apple is the master of promotion, and while we marvel at the sleek unpolluted design of the iPad, we need to think about where this is all leading and how like all good surfers we can make sure our environment stays clean and green.”
There are some Cloud firms that come in for praise though. “Yahoo!, for instance, chose to build a data centre outside Buffalo, New York, that is powered by energy from a hydroelectric power plant - dramatically decreasing its carbon footprint,” says the Greenpeace report. “Google Energy, a subsidiary of Cloud leader Google, applied and was recently approved as a regulated wholesale buyer and seller of electricity in the United States, giving it greater flexibility as to where it buys its electricity to power its data centres."
But the organisation wants regulators to take action now. The group said: “The IT sector has the ability to help us combat climate change by innovating to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy efficiency. Technologies that enable smart grids, zero emission buildings and more efficient transport systems are key to cutting climate change pollution. But, given the current expansion in Cloud Computing, the IT industry also needs to get its own carbon footprint under control.
“We are calling on IT industry giants to put their might behind government policies that give priority grid access for renewable sources like wind and solar energy. IT companies should also support economy-wide climate and energy policies around the world that peak climate emissions by 2015.”
Is Cloud Green?
Posted by Jairo Rojas on Wed, 31/03/2010 - 15:47Interesting report. But indeed, GreenPeace would always find the negatives cause that is what they do. Fair warning in any case, but they seem to be concentrated in blaming Cloud for providing a greener alternative to a growth industry which would have gotten there with or without the cloud.
I do agree with the last two paragraphs.
The group said: “The IT sector has the ability to help us combat climate change by innovating to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy efficiency. Technologies that enable smart grids, zero emission buildings and more efficient transport systems are key to cutting climate change pollution. But, given the current expansion in Cloud Computing, the IT industry also needs to get its own carbon footprint under control.
“We are calling on IT industry giants to put their might behind government policies that give priority grid access for renewable sources like wind and solar energy. IT companies should also support economy-wide climate and energy policies around the world that peak climate emissions by 2015.”
The IT Industry and particularly the software industry stands to be the biggest contributor to helping achieving the 2015 and 2050 targets. We need our governments and regulators to understand this and therefore facilitate an environment to encourage this investment.
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