The Dirty Cloud

Cloud computing, or the “Cloud", is a metaphor for the Internet. As users, a large part of the data we use on the Internet is stored, processed and transfered to and from Data Centers that form a large part of the Cloud. Data Centers are the engines of the 21st century information age. Companies like Apple, Microsoft and Amazon - run Data Centers that consume incredible amounts of electricity. Unfortunately, that energy used to keep those Data Centers running contribute heavily to Climate Change. A shift to using renewable energy sources to run their THE DIRTY CLOUD digital infrastructure on the Cloud should encourage other companies to do the same. This Infographic presents some statistics to show how the IT industry stands to deal with leading efforts to mitigate Climate Change. THE WORST CLOUD BRANDS DIGITAL INFORMATION PROJECTED GROWTH* ENERGY TRANSPARENCY 2012 A 1111111141111 A INFRASTRUCTURE SITTING 2020 IBM O ENERGY EFFICIENCY & GHG MITIGATION (A 50-FOLD INCREASE) ORACLE * RENEWABLES & ADVOCACY facebook. Microsoft The unprecedented growth of digital technologies and information will inevitablly cause the energy required to power them to rise exponenentially. With signs of Climate Change becoming clear with every passing day, we'll need the IT Industry to lead the way forward in making the shift to using clean energy. twitter COAL NUCLEAR Silesforce OTHER amazon.com GRADE A O rockspace. NÕSTING GRADE B Google GRADE C - GRADE D YAHOO! GRADE E ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION DELL GRADE F BY COUNTRY (BILLION KWH)* Akamai 925 623 568 JAPAN THE CLOUD Brands like Apple, Microsoft and Amazon are household names. Although considered industry leaders, as "Cloud Brands", they are in no way leading the clean energy race. Greenpeace's assessment of these brands highlights their failure in addressing key íssues that concern their interest to deal with the Člimate Change crisis. Their reliance on fossil fuels like Coal only makes it worse. 3923 3438 1023 RUSSIA INDIA USA CHINA If the cloud were a country it would be the 5th largest consumer of electricity in the world. The projected increase of digital information will inevitably cause a rapid expansion of data centers, increasing the demand on energy in the form of electricity exponentially. ACT NOW www.cleanourcloud.com * SOURCE: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/climate-change/cleanourcloud/Clean-our-Cloud-Report/ GREENPEACE