Microsoft is big on carbon offsets, and not just in the U.S. It’s become more popular over the years for business, particularly big tech companies that operate huge data centers and work campuses, to purchase carbon offsets to achieve carbon neutrality and help limit the environmental effects of their operations. These credits, in part, help […]
Apple’s green data center details emerge
Remember all that hubbub about Apple’s “dirty cloud” data center in Maiden, N.C.? Long story short, Greenpeace released a scathing report on the state of cloud data centers and their detrimental effects on the environment. Though some companies got a pass — Facebook, Yahoo and Google, mainly — others like Apple were raked over the coals […]
Intel, Microsoft among top green energy buyers
A couple of IT companies made a strong showing on the EPA’s National Top 50 list of renewable energy buyers. According to the EPA, companies qualify for inclusion by meeting the following conditions: Organizations can meet EPA Partnership requirements using any combination of three different product options: (1) Renewable Energy Certificates, (2) On-site generation, and (3) […]
Wind turbines quietly win over skeptics
This is eerie… Lately, the topic of infographic burnout has been making the rounds. This is mainly due to clumsy (and copious) marketing attempts, flimsy ‘facts’ or firms that are pushing outright lies using pretty pixels. I was just thinking today how this infographic on wind turbine noise from GE was the exception. Simple. Eye-pleasing. […]
Infographic: The deafening silence of wind turbines
One of the biggest complaints levied against wind turbines — apart from them “ruining” idyllic views — is that they’re noisy. It’s an understandable fear. Whereas you can turn your back on an eyesore, an incessant drone will drive anyone batty. Thankfully, this infographic from GE Reports — a site from a company that knows […]
Facebook bets on cool, renewables for Swedish data center
Pictured: Lulea mayor Karl Petersen (left) and Facebook’s Director of Site Operations, Tom Furlong – Image Credit: Lulea data center Facebook page Facebook is poised to take free cooling and clean energy to new heights. Up into the Arctic Circle, in fact. The social networking behemoth announced today that it was siting its first data center outside […]
Stat of the day: 260 million watts
That’s approximately the amount of power required to keep Google’s data centers running. As this NYT piece mentions, all those searches, Gmail accounts, YouTube videos and tons of other services continually absorb 260 million watts, or about a quarter of the output of one nuclear power plant. There are two important things to note from this […]
Interxion, SmartestEnergy team for 100% renewables-powered data center
Proving that renewables and big-city data centers can coexist, Interxion is powering its London facility completely with power purchased from SmartestEnergy. Why doesn’t the colo operator just stick to energy efficient IT equipment and infrastructure? Interxion’s Managing Director for the UK, Greg McCulloch, hints at looming CO2 regulations. He states, in a company release, “We […]
REN21: Renewables make up nearly 20 percent of global energy production
Where in the world?! Before we get to all those juicy statistics, REN21 came through with a little tech for infoporn addicts by debuting an online Renewables Interactive Map to coincide with the release of the group’s Renewables 2011 Global Status Report. As with all good interactive maps, it’s infinitely clickable and searchable. As a […]
Nuclear Japan: The data center industry’s energy wake up call?
I’ve resisted linking the terrible earthquake in Japan to the topics of clean energy and green IT mainly because of the scope of the disaster and the terrible suffering it wrought. That, and the country’s ongoing nuclear energy hardships speak for themselves. But now, as Japanese businesses work to return to normalcy, some interesting after […]
