Surpisingly the answer is yes...: Dan Golding from Tier 1 Research writes:
Infoworld's Nancy Gohring has an amusing article on how Microsoft is using biodiesel-powered construction equipment to build its massive new datacenters (http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/07/25/Biodiesel-fuels-build-of-Microsoft-data-center_1.html). Here's the short version: While this sounds very green, there is a very operational and tactical reason to go to biodiesel: heavy equipment operating in the huge 500,000+ sq ft along with datacenter shells will put out enough carbon monoxide to kill everyone inside unless massive exhaust fans are installed – or unless the equipment uses a fuel that puts out less carbon monoxide, like biodiesel made from canola oil. Apparently, this work-around is performing just fine, except that the smell is redolent of deep-fried engine block.
Needless to say, the backup generators will use good, old-fashioned 'petro-oil' – i.e., oil from dinosaurs, not from corn. Is this the carbon-neutral datacenter that Microsoft says it is? Walking across the street isn't carbon neutral, no matter how many trees you plant, and neither is a datacenter – any datacenter.
So even the "evil empire" can do good, espacially when it is in their interest. As demand for online applications and hosted web 2.0 sites proliferate, data centers are becoming a significant consumer of electricity.
Does our online activity add to footprint? Sure it does, and well beyond on electric bill.
No comments:
Post a Comment