SYS-CON Media (press release)Oracle's Hal Stern at Cloud Expo: "We've Moved from 'What' to 'How'"SYS-CON Media (press release)By this, he said he didn't mean the various Green IT and similar efforts that "are all about data center efficiency. I think the operational model is just ...and more »

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.

There are many different aspects of Green IT along with several myths or misperceptions not to mention missed opportunities. There is a Green Gap or disconnect between environmentally aware, focused messaging and core IT data center issues. For example, when I ask IT professionals whether they have or are under direction to implement green IT initiatives, the number averages in the 10-15% range. However, when I ask the same audiences who has or sees power, cooling, floor space, supporting growth, or addressing environmental health and safety (EHS) related issues, the average is 75 to 90%. What this means is a disconnect between what is perceived as being green and opportunities for IT organizations to make improvements from an economic and efficiency standpoint including boosting productivity.

At Green Rack Systems, we have been saying for a long time how this emphatic shift towards clean energy is inescapable. A November study by AFCOM finds that “greening of the data center is no longer just a concept – it is actually taking place”, and on a large scale, with 71.3% of all survey respondents indicating that they are actively engaged in Greening. Now, thanks to Executive Order 13514 requiring rigid energy efficiency targets, even Federal agencies have to follow what they preach by taking the lead on reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Further, they will have to divert 50% of their waste by 2015 and arrive at a net-zero energy building requirements by 2030 for all of its 500,000 buildings. This will be made possible by key changes made in their massive IT departments, servers and data centers. T