The environmental impact of cloud computing
Posted May 25, 2008 
Comments(3)
Comments(3) From the Economist
Data centres consumed 0.6% of the world’s electricity in 2000, and 1% in 2005. Globally, they are already responsible for more carbon-dioxide emissions per year than Argentina or the Netherlands, according to a recent study by McKinsey, a consultancy, and the Uptime Institute, a think-tank. If today’s trends hold, these emissions will have grown four-fold by 2020, reaching 670m tonnes. By some estimates, the carbon footprint of cloud computing will then be larger than that of aviation.
We must get a handle on this issue quickly. Last Friday, I spent several hours reviewing videos on the topic which Microsoft has on its website. While much work remains to be done, Microsoft has made great strides in this area. We cannot allow the expansion of the Internet backbone to offset the environmental benefits of telecommuting. The Virtual Earth processing center which Microsoft has located in Boulder, Colorado is an example of responsible work. It is significantly more efficient than contemporary designs and the first floor is powered by 100% wind energy.
Identifying the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of data centers makes a good start but is just the tip of the iceberg.
The environmental footprint of cloud computing should address the entire life-cycle inventory of embodied and purchased energy for all client and server computing, display, storage and networking devices as well as emissions to air, water and landfill.
[...] An Energy Diet for Power-Hungry Household PCs IBM aims to lighten the (energy) load at data centers The environmental impact of cloud computing Arresting the Global Data-Center Carbon Footprint Google considers moving to boats Study: Cut [...]