Will Cloud Computing lead to Global Smog?

Virtualization Journal (Mar 31 2010) Carbon Footprint , Emissions , Fossil Fuel , Cloud Computing

1. Today has seen the release of the Greenpeace report: "Make IT Green - Cloud Computing and its contribution to Climate Change" catch the headlines. The report basically claims that the rise of cloud computing is increasingly reliant on the use of dirty fossil fuels and that urgent action needs to be taken to redress the situation. According to the report, Greenpeace claims that the energy consumption and carbon emissions of cloud computing is already significantly higher had been previously estimated. Using carbon emission projection data provided by McKinsey (included within the 2008 study Smart 2020: enabling the low carbon economy in the information age published by the Climate Group) and updating it with data supplied by the Environmental Protection Agency, Greenpeace has concluded that the actual energy consumption of cloud computing is 1.3 times greater than intimated by the Smart 2020 study. (Read Full Article)

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