Wednesday, March 31, 2010

More Green Energy Topics - Iceland and Volcanoes vs Cloud Computing Powered by Coal.

Following up on green living I came upon this video about Iceland and their use of geothermal power from volcanoes to heat their buildings and water.  Very cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRAQrDduaU0
At the opposite end of the spectrum is the United States use of coal power which is a huge source of air pollution and greenhouse effects.  Specifically Greenpeace is claiming our increased use of Cloud computing is powered by coal plants.  A distrubing thought as we amp up our use of internet data.
Coal Fuels Much of Internet 'Cloud,' Greenpeace Says:
"The 'cloud' of data that is becoming the heart of the Internet is creating an all-too-real cloud of pollution as Facebook, Apple and others build data centers powered by coal, Greenpeace said in a new report to be released on Tuesday.
Cheap and plentiful, coal is the top fuel for U.S. power plants, and its low cost versus alternative fuels makes it attractive, even in highly energy-efficient data centers."
follow link to read more:
http://bit.ly/9HN7kR
So as we increase our use of Facebook, instant movies etc we have to push these providers to rethink their energy sources.  This is a very new concept to me I never thought along this line of logic but it makes sense.
Does anyone have any ideas or insights that we could or should do?
Look forward to hearing your comments.
Moira

Moira Murphy, ABR, Green
Residential Real Estate Agent
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
Website: Moira.Murphy.net
Email: Moira.Murphy@NEMoves.com
Tel: Direct: 413.575.3643 / 413.567-8931 - office
Twitter: mmurfsurf

No comments: