While growing computing demand will mean more energy consumption, wider use of cloud computing technology will prove to be a net benefit to the environment over the longer term, say industry watchers. “I think cloud computing—either public, private or hybrid cloud—will become an increasingly important factor” in green computing, says Eric Woods, an analyst with cleantech research firm Pike Research. “I think many medium-sized, and even large, data center operations will see a cloud-based service as an attractive means of reducing energy costs and (carbon) emissions without having to re-engineer their existing data centers.” Virtualization of computing capacity is “another key development” says Woods, “allowing a large number of inefficient servers to be removed from the data center—enabling a 20:1 consolidation of servers in some cases.”

Big piles of data and power bills make green data centers a winner. With ever-increasing amounts of data being generated by Corporate America annually, energy-thirsty data centers are quickly becoming many firms’ most important green initiative. “If you look at the past five to seven years, energy for power and cooling is the main issue,” says Jill Yaoz, CEO of AFCOM, the main industry organization of data management professionals.

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: DLR), the world's largest wholesale datacenter provider, announced today the appointment of Christopher Crosby, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, a newly created position that will focus on growth opportunities for the Company. In his new role, Mr. Crosby will report directly to A. William Stein, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Investment Officer, to align opportunities with the Company's financial objectives and capital planning process.

Emerson Network Power, a business of Emerson (NYSE:EMR) and a global leader in enabling Business-Critical Continuity(TM), and Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAVA) today announced a global sales alliance that will help provide businesses and organizations with roadmaps and technologies to increase the productivity and energy efficiency of their datacenters. Globally, datacenter energy consumption is driven by businesses' demand for greater computing capacity and increased IT centralization. When combined with increasing global electricity prices, the financial implications are significant.