Greenpeace projects that energy consumption related to cloud computing could more than triple by 2020. It also predicts that between 2002 and 2020, the global carbon footprint of data centers and telecommunications networks–the main components of cloud-based computing–would increase carbon emissions by an average of 9 percent each year between 2002 and 2020.

In its March 30 report “Make IT Green,” Greenpeace focuses on the environmental impact of cloud computing. The term references the “cloud” of data that users access through the Internet rather than hosting themselves–for instance, Google Documents lets you use a word processor without installing a program on your computer. Thus, cloud computing offers powerful tools without the necessity of in-house data hosting. In light of cloud-specific technologies like the iPad, Greenpeace says 2010 could be the “year of the cloud.”

However, the Greenpeace report says that as cloud-based technologies proliferate, more energy is needed to power them–specifically, the data centers and telecommunication networks behind them. And often, cloud hosting companies turn to cheap, coal-fired electricity to power their data centers.

In that sense, cloud computing companies face issues familiar to any company that is a heavy energy consumer, and Greenpeace urges strategic siting of data centers as well as exploring clean and alternative energy sources.

The report concludes, “Unfortunately, as our collective demand for computing resources increases, even the most efficiently built data [centers] with the highest [utilization] rates serve only to mitigate, rather than eliminate, harmful emissions.”

To read the full Greenpeace report, click here (.pdf).

For previous InsideCounsel coverage of cloud computing, click here.

For more on cloud computing, check out InsideCounsel's May issue to read about trends in legal technology.

Greenpeace projects that energy consumption related to cloud computing could more than triple by 2020. It also predicts that between 2002 and 2020, the global carbon footprint of data centers and telecommunications networks–the main components of cloud-based computing–would increase carbon emissions by an average of 9 percent each year between 2002 and 2020.

In its March 30 report “Make IT Green,” Greenpeace focuses on the environmental impact of cloud computing. The term references the “cloud” of data that users access through the Internet rather than hosting themselves–for instance, Google Documents lets you use a word processor without installing a program on your computer. Thus, cloud computing offers powerful tools without the necessity of in-house data hosting. In light of cloud-specific technologies like the iPad, Greenpeace says 2010 could be the “year of the cloud.”

However, the Greenpeace report says that as cloud-based technologies proliferate, more energy is needed to power them–specifically, the data centers and telecommunication networks behind them. And often, cloud hosting companies turn to cheap, coal-fired electricity to power their data centers.

In that sense, cloud computing companies face issues familiar to any company that is a heavy energy consumer, and Greenpeace urges strategic siting of data centers as well as exploring clean and alternative energy sources.

The report concludes, “Unfortunately, as our collective demand for computing resources increases, even the most efficiently built data [centers] with the highest [utilization] rates serve only to mitigate, rather than eliminate, harmful emissions.”

To read the full Greenpeace report, click here (.pdf).

For previous InsideCounsel coverage of cloud computing, click here.

For more on cloud computing, check out InsideCounsel's May issue to read about trends in legal technology.