Cloud Computing is Good for the Environment. Really?

Greenpeace raised the heat several months ago when the organization lambasted data center operators for contributing to global warming. The organization has recently intensified criticism by targeting Facebook in campaigns to force the company to move away from using coal-based utilities.

In contrast, a new study by Microsoft, Accenture and WSP Environment & Energy reports that cloud computing reduces energy use and carbon emissions.

Skeptical? In this case, we do not argue that data centers can be greener than corporate IT. But there is a distinction to make between efficiency and the overall effect of data centers on the environment.

New data centers are being built to keep up with the constant stream of information we produce. Each one of those data centers can consume exponential amounts of power and in the process produce a lot of pollution.

Microsoft, Accenture argue for the benefits of data centers. They state that public, cloud computing environments running enterprise applications can cut energy consumption and carbon emissions by 30% compared to an organization that runs the same software on its own infrastructure.

In addition, cloud computing data centers provide efficiencies that organizations can not achieve.

Cloud Computing is Good for the Environment. Really? - ReadWriteCloud