Cloud computing cuts global carbon emissions

Grazed from FreshBusinessThinking.com.   Author: Max Clarke.

Cloud computing is not only convenient, but could save millions of tonnes of greenhouse emissions.

This is according to a recent report, by the Carbon Disclosure Project and Verdantix, that finds cloud-based technologies are far more efficient than their in-house counterparts…
 

And specifically with Google’s cloud based Gmail, David Jacobowitz- Program Manager at the web giant’s Green Engineering and Operations division- observes that it can be 80 times more efficient than in-house solutions in businesses. And considering the 4 million businesses who have ditched outdated servers and embraced Gmail, the energy savings are vast.

Youtube- another of Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) protégés- is also far more efficient than other forms of sharing videos, as Jacabowitz explains:

“The servers needed to play one minute of YouTube consume about 0.0002 kWh of energy. To put that in perspective, it takes about eight seconds for the human body to burn off that same amount. You’d have to watch YouTube for three straight days for our servers to consume the amount of energy required to manufacture, package and ship a single DVD.”