Iceland Data Centers Go Green
Google and Facebook have taken the ire of environmentalists for not doing their bit towards saving the planet. Data centers, more than any other facility consume a lot of energy and are responsible for polluting the planet.
According to Verne Global, Iceland’s zero carbon footprint facility said that Iceland is now home to data centers that do not pollute at all. Most of the energy used
by these data centers, and the whole nation comes from natural and renewable sources.
“Iceland is the only place on earth with 100% renewable energy from dual sources, geothermal and hydroelectric,” Jeff Monroe, CEO of Verne Global.
Monroe is a data center veteran who has served for AOL most of his life. He says that
AOL initially would consume only 30 megawatt of power. He also says that today Google requires about 200 megawatt of power enough to power 150,000 houses in the U.S.
“In 2000 a Web company could operate on a few servers,” Monroe explains. “Now a decade later, they need racks of servers, maybe many hundreds or thousands.”
Electricity produces heat; servers need electricity to operate. Hence this chain results in excess heat production. Now, companies not only need electricity to power the servers but also to remove heat via air conditioning, and coolers. All these systems use up a lot of electricity.
However Iceland’s cool environment allows data centers to use ventilation for air conditioning. Verne Global has made complete use of this natural phenomenon.
Iceland has proved that we can have internet and clean air too.
