If you use a smartphone, Facebook, email or any sort of online storage then you're using what is referred to as "the cloud". Every day, our lives revolve more and more around the phenomenon that is the cloud. We check our email, store our music, and share photos and status updates. It’s a key part of how we connect with our friends and family.
But have you ever stopped to wonder… where does the cloud actually exist?
The companies that give us the cloud keep all that data in huge warehouses called data centres which are switched on 24/7. Keeping these services running requires huge amounts of electricity, much of which comes from dirty, dangerous energy like coal and nuclear power. This problem is growing fast. We found that if the cloud were its own country, it would rank fifth in the world for how much electricity it uses, and that electricity demand will triple by 2020!
Our new How Clean is Your Cloud report, launched today, looks at the data centres of 14 of the top global IT companies - like Microsoft, Apple, IBM or Amazon - and challenges these 21st century companies to end their reliance on a 19th century power source and invest in clean, renewable energy.
Thankfully, our growing cloud could actually be a really good thing for the planet if powered by clean energy, not coal. We’re already seeing companies like Google, Yahoo and Facebook lead the way by moving toward powering their clouds with clean energy, partly in thanks to you.
