Looks like Greenpeace finally got off their greenhouse gas kick and has realized that clouds have as much to do with how climate changes as anything else.
Wait — check that. They say cloud computing is leading us down the path towards catastrophic global warming:
In a study issued Tuesday, environmental organization Greenpeace said the computing “cloud” powering the Internet is becoming a major source of pollution, as companies build data centers powered by coal, according to a Reuters report from Monday.
The study (PDF) singles out a Facebook facility that relies on a coal-powered utility, along with Apple’s North Carolina data center, also powered by coal.
According to Reuters, in the report Greenpeace concludes that “the last thing we need is for more cloud infrastructure to be built in places where it increases demand for dirty coal-fired power.”
The organization also points to Microsoft, Yahoo and Google as having data centers that rely on “heavy” use of coal power.
That’s right, another polluter demon has been unleashed from the pit of corporate hell: Big Internet.