The Future Of Energy: The Clean Cloud
By Ian Rosoff
Last month I wrote about Google and the Future Of Energy, and talked about tech companies getting into the alternative energy game. I’d like to continue that discussion because the energy cost of cloud computing and information technology in general is currently 2% of global CO2 emissions, and that number is expected to double by 2020. Internet traffic is rapidly growing and as data storage moves to the cloud, the huge server rooms of HP, IBM, Google, will demand incredible energy production.
The mobile explosion will also add to the ICT carbon output, so let’s talk about Apple who is an integral leader in the cell phone market. In my opinion, 2012 belonged to Apple since they dominated both culturally and financially. In my last article, I focused on Google’s balance sheet, but with the New Year upon us it’s fun to speculate what Apple will do with cash creeping toward $100 billion. Obviously, dividends and stock buy back are options and CEO Tim Cook has stated they have more cash than needed to run the company, so the question is how to spend that fortune. Green data centers are the first step. Apple was criticized for sourcing data with coal fired electricity in the past, but are now committed to improving their efficiency grades with environmental advocacy groups.
Even though companies like Apple, Google and Amazon are currently receiving poor environmental grades they are extremely flexible companies and seem to be determined to change for public perception and financial reasons. It’s encouraging to see Apple getting into green data because they love vertical integration, and controlling the entire production path of all their products, so we may see them step up their alternative energy strategy. As ICT continues to produce a greater carbon footprint and ICT companies look to become green, I’m confident there will be huge innovation in alternative energy.
Greenpeace came out with a “How Clean Is Your Cloud” report in 2012. Transparency is the big issue here, because with the explosive growth of the cloud and mobile phones t’s hard to measure power use. Green IT is about combining efficiency with renewable energy. Tapping into the green grid will require big ICT companies to build that grid to meet their growing needs.
Where does government regulation come into play? Because most of the infrastructure for the cloud will be new, it will all have to meet current EPA and other government standards. But the real legislation concerning the cloud and ICT is still in its infancy. Senator Amy Klobuchar proposed a “Cloud Computing Act of 2012”, but it seems likely that it will never see the floor. Law makers seem uncertain about what cloud computing is and how it will impact banking, data, e-commerce, and a myriad of other issues that may need regulation. Legislation is tricky because we don’t know what the problems are that need to be solved yet. Regardless, laws regarding ICT are likely to be about fraud and security not energy and the environment. This is why it is crucial that tech companies seek to become green independent of legislation.
What I love about green data storage is that it means U.S. companies can provide clean cloud services for emerging markets and help reduce carbon emission for China and India. For a while I’ve been worried about an inability to share the burden of carbon reduction across the world in an efficient manner, equally concerning was how to make alternative energy production competitive with fossil fuels before scarcity necessitated that reality. Green data and clean cloud may be able to solve both those pressing problems or at least help. I’ll be continuing to monitor this narrative throughout 2013 as more information about ICT and the environmental impact becomes available, and as tech companies react to the energy cost of cloud computing.
