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| from Nature |
The internet consumes a large amount of energy and energy emits greenhouse gases. First, the hardware that is the backbone of the internet must be manufactured, transported through distribution channels to reach its final destination. These servers, home computers and smartphones must be housed, powered and cooled using power drawn from the electric grid. Most groups cite the statistic that the internet is responsible for about 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions though I could find no recent studies producing that statistic.
Nonetheless, every time we use a search engine, watch a video, stream a movie or TV show, send an email, look at a picture there is an output of greenhouse gases. Every interaction with the internet requires multiple servers in the vast array of data centers to operate. Every second we are on the internet we are using energy and releasing fractions of grams of carbon dioxide equivalents.
According to datacenterfrontier the U.S. is home to 3 million data centers, or roughly one for every 100 Americans, though a change has been happening in the past few years with the emergence of server virtualization as companies have converted to virtual storage using hyperscale data canters. A large number of these hyperscale data centers are clustered in Loudoun County, Fairfax and increasingly Prince William County Virginia. As of September 2018, Northern Virginia was home to 4.7 million square feet of data center space, representing 955 megawatts of power usage.
The constant and increasing demand for connectivity and cloud based entertainment means ever increasing energy is used by the nation’s data centers, and much of that energy has been non-renewable and contributes to carbon emissions. For now, despite rising demand for data, electricity consumption by the entire information technology ecosystem is staying relatively flat, as increased Internet traffic and data demands are countered by increased efficiencies and the replacement of older facilities by new ultra-efficient centers.
According to the Department of Energy, nearly all server shipment growth since 2010 has occurred in servers destined for large hyperscale data centers, where servers are often configured for maximum productivity and operated at high utilization rates, resulting in fewer servers needed in the hyperscale data centers than would be required to provide the same services in traditional, smaller, data centers. Storage devices are becoming more efficient and increased awareness in data center infrastructure operations has resulted in hyperscale data centers that are often designed to maximum infrastructure efficiency.
The five biggest global companies by market capitalization this year are currently Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Facebook and all are taking steps to use more renewable energy and carbon footprint of their operations. So maybe the Microsoft announcement will become the challenge to the other internet giants to erase their carbon footprints.
Nonetheless, every time we use a search engine, watch a video, stream a movie or TV show, send an email, look at a picture there is an output of greenhouse gases. Every interaction with the internet requires multiple servers in the vast array of data centers to operate. Every second we are on the internet we are using energy and releasing fractions of grams of carbon dioxide equivalents.
According to datacenterfrontier the U.S. is home to 3 million data centers, or roughly one for every 100 Americans, though a change has been happening in the past few years with the emergence of server virtualization as companies have converted to virtual storage using hyperscale data canters. A large number of these hyperscale data centers are clustered in Loudoun County, Fairfax and increasingly Prince William County Virginia. As of September 2018, Northern Virginia was home to 4.7 million square feet of data center space, representing 955 megawatts of power usage.
The constant and increasing demand for connectivity and cloud based entertainment means ever increasing energy is used by the nation’s data centers, and much of that energy has been non-renewable and contributes to carbon emissions. For now, despite rising demand for data, electricity consumption by the entire information technology ecosystem is staying relatively flat, as increased Internet traffic and data demands are countered by increased efficiencies and the replacement of older facilities by new ultra-efficient centers.
According to the Department of Energy, nearly all server shipment growth since 2010 has occurred in servers destined for large hyperscale data centers, where servers are often configured for maximum productivity and operated at high utilization rates, resulting in fewer servers needed in the hyperscale data centers than would be required to provide the same services in traditional, smaller, data centers. Storage devices are becoming more efficient and increased awareness in data center infrastructure operations has resulted in hyperscale data centers that are often designed to maximum infrastructure efficiency.
The five biggest global companies by market capitalization this year are currently Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Facebook and all are taking steps to use more renewable energy and carbon footprint of their operations. So maybe the Microsoft announcement will become the challenge to the other internet giants to erase their carbon footprints.
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