Apple Says Data Centers Now Use 100% Renewable Energy

[onehandle]

Source: Bloomberg

The company’s data centers now run on energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal, instead of coal or other fossil fuels, Apple said on its website. The centers house server computers that store and distribute songs, applications and other content from services such as iTunes, iMessage and iCloud.

A year ago, Apple was targeted by Greenpeace International, which ranked Apple 12th out of 14 large technology companies in a report called “How Clean Is Your Cloud?” The environmental group, which held protests at Apple’s offices in Cupertino, California, charged Apple with relying on electricity from coal plants and gave Apple a grade of no better than D in the four categories it tracked.

In its environmental update, Apple said a 100-acre solar farm next to its largest data center, in Maiden, North Carolina, became fully operational in December. With the solar array and a large installation of fuel cells, which convert biogases into energy, Apple said it met a goal of generating 60 percent of the energy for the data center on-site.

The company said a data center that is under construction in Prineville, Oregon, will also run on local renewable energy sources such as wind, hydro, solar and geothermal power.



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-21/apple-says-data-centers-now-use-100-renewable-energy.html

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As promised before Greenpeace retro-complained.

[RoccoR5955]

1. So now who says that you can't be profitable

and run on renewables.
Just waiting for their new manufacturing centers in the US, where they will make computers, to come on line, and be as green.
It can be done.

[AtheistCrusader]

2. If we were allowed to classify Hydro as renewable, Washington State would be sitting pretty at 72%

hydropower.

We have not been allowed to use Hydro as a renewable classified source.
http://crosscut.com/2010/12/28/energy-utilities/20375/Can-state-meet-mandate-find-alternative-energy-sou/

[adieu]

8. I can understand why

You see, water flows through turbines to generate electricity. The water is now at a lower position than it was before going through the turbines. In order to bring that water back up, it has to be evaporated by the sun, moved over the land by wind (which is also a sun-related effect) and then condensed to rain down onto the lakes or whatever. So really, hydroelectric is solar energy, and since we can't replace the sun, it's not a renewable resource. There, does that make sense?

[AtheistCrusader]

9. Hahaha, true.

One valid criticism is that it isn't carbon neutral. Stuff rots in the reservoirs behind the dams, that wouldn't otherwise sit there, and that releases carbon. It also harms fish, in both directions, the reservoir chews up habitat, the construction is carbon intensive for the concrete...

but overall, it's oh so much better than coal.

[RedstDem]

13. the swiss pump water up the side of a mountain

and let it fall back down for some of their hydro electric.
seems crazy but they do benefit by creating more electricity than they use with the pumping.....

[FreeState]

3. Kudos to Apple for doing the right thing!

Now hopefully others will do the same.

[KamaAina]

4. Great job, guys!

Now let's get to work on the slave labor in China. And the $100 billion, with a B, you're parking offshore to dodge U.S. (and California state) taxes.

[bobclark86]

6. +1, Kama...

[Politicub]

5. Remarkable that we can harness the power of the sun

We should put solar arrays on top of every building, parking lot, home and other commercial spaces. Anywhere that gets a lot of sun.

[FrodosPet]

10. Sun? What's that?

I live in Michigan, and I heard some rumor about something called a "Sun". Is it that big bright ball I remember seeing in the sky several years ago?

I should have taken a picture. Never know when we will get another chance to see it.

[Politicub]

11. A rogue planet is blocking the sun there, apparently

I wish I could help!

[Archaic]

7. Step 1: Get clean power.

Step 2: Get more and more efficient so you can do more with the same energy install, leaving room for growth.

Apple's in the middle implementing some very neat things in their datacenters that will dramatically improve performance of their applications as well as SIGNIFICANTLY reduce the amount of space needed to produce the new levels of performance.

As this tech rolls out to the rest of the industry, many of the complaints about wasteful datacenters will go away.

I am looking at replacing three cabinets of equipment with 15 rack units of stuff. 100x the performance. 1/9th the space used. 1/5-1/10th the power draw. Probably 1/10th the cooling needed, if not the end of cooling. Which means WAY less coal burned. (we can't access clean energy for a number of stupid reasons, but I'm working on it).

Based on this shift, I won't have to build the new datacenter I'd been planning to.

Man I love this stuff!

[RedstDem]

12. This is really cool

i don't mean to nitpick, but geothermal is not renewable, but it definitely more efficient in extreme temperatures, high or low..

kudos to apple!