Apple, Google, Facebook, and newcomer Switch are leading the charge to build a renewably powered internet, according to a newly released report from Greenpeace, due to their actions in transitioning their data centers to renewable energy sources. Nearly 20 leading Internet companies have now committed to 100% renewable energy. In total, the energy footprint of the IT sector as a whole is currently estimated to consume 7 percent of global electricity.
However, Greenpeace finds that the reality is that “much of the sector continues to grow rapidly in Asia and U.S. markets like Virginia, both of which have little to no renewable energy options.” Greenpeace cites Amazon Web Services as a prime example of “a company that talks up its renewable projects, but keeps customers in the dark on its energy performance while expanding into markets served by dirty energy like Virginia.” Likewise, Chinese Internet giants, including Tencent, Baidu, and Alibaba, have not committed to 100 percent renewable energy and lack basic transparency around their energy performance.
The Greenpeace report scores the renewable efforts of nearly 70 websites and applications popular in the U.S., China, and South Korea.
