Greenpeace Goes After Facebook

Greenpeace Goes After Facebook

Greenpeace Goes After Facebook

The environmental activist group Greenpeace International have recently launched a very interesting campaign against the Facebook social network and their contracting with a power utility that will mostly use coal to power their new data center in Oregon.

The cheap and green hydro power was very popular when Google built a data center in Oregon. It was assumed that the Facebook data center would be supported primarily by hydro power as well, but no. SearchData have reported that Facebook has contracted with utility PacifiCorp, a unit of Pacific Power, that relies on heavily coal-generated electricity, rather than paying upcoming higher rates for hydroelectric power.

Because as of 2012, the days of cheap hydro electricity from Bonneville Power Administration will be over.

Matt Stansberry from SearchData wrote that with the price of hydro-power increasing in the Northwest, Facebook opted to bet on the incremental price increases associated with coal rather than face tier-two pricing from BPA. This might seem logical from an economical point of view, but it's devastating from an environmental perspective.

According to Casey Harrell, the Greenpeace International's Cool IT campaign coordinator, Yahoo is the true example of a company that has a green data center built near Buffalo and powered by hydroelectric power. He added that if your Facebook page is being powered by coal, then you are contributing to climate change in a way.

It's all about of the "cheap versus clean dilemma" that most data centers, webhosting and domain hosting companies with massive power requirements face. Companies like Google and Facebook would like to be as green as possible, but they must also control their expenses. The economical aspect of on-site generation of electricity using wind or solar power don't add up for most providers. Therefore, the best way to use more renewable energy is to buy it from a company. However, Information Technology industry giants such as Google, Apple, Yahoo and Microsoft should influence a clean energy policy and be an example to the world.

In an official statement officials from Facebook noted that Pacific Power does rely slightly more toward coal than the national average of the United States, but it is also looking forward to increase its renewable energy sources.

POST COMMENT

Wi-Fi Meaning and History The related knowledge of the portable source Christian Articles on How to Aggressively Guard the Gates of your Mind Male Enhancement Pills - What is your actual knowledge regarding this product A history of hosiery and its construction Cafe World Cheats On Facebook Experiencing History In Sarajevo History And Care Of Poinsettia Plants - Euphorbia Pulcherrima Japanese Animation - The Forgotten Anime History A brief talk about Chinese History - Xia Dynasty A brief talk about Chinese History - Shang Dynasty The Guru Code Ebook Review Guidelines on how to make extra Money with Facebook application