Facebook to TMC: Greenpeace's Claims are 'Simply Untrue'

Recently, an environmentalist research group reported that popular social media company Facebook (News - Alert)– along with other offenders – are using data centers that are less than friendly to the environment.

Greenpeace reported that data centers that hold down the “cloud” fort, in the Facebook world create quite a cloud of pollution with the use of coal in these facilities. The report comes in the middle of a new federal debate whether to create caps or other measures to cut use of carbon-heavy fuels like coal and curb climate change.

TMCnet contacted Facebook about the accusation and the social networking giant shared its side of the story.

According to a Facebook spokesperson, the company selected Oregon – the location of the data center in question – for its uniquely dry and temperate climate.

“This climate enables us to design what we believe to be one of, if not the most, energy efficient data centers in the world,” Facebook told TMCnet in an e-mail. “Specifically, most data centers use mechanical chillers or large air conditioners for part, if not all, of the year to cool the computers within the facility.”

These mechanical chillers use a lot of energy and are only exceeded in their energy use by the thousands of computers inside the data center. 

“Because of the climate around Prineville and our unique design, we won’t use any mechanical chillers; we won’t even build any,” the Facebook spokesperson said. “Instead, the data center will use an innovative evaporative cooling system.”

However, comments about Facebook’s Oregon data center “chose” coal are completely ludacrious, said the company, which is being quite vocal about the claims.

“At the same time, it is simply untrue to say that we chose coal as a source of power,” the Facebook spokesperson said. “The suggestion of ‘choosing coal’ ignores the fact that there is no such thing as a coal-powered data center.”

Similarly, Facebook officials said, there is no such thing as a hydroelectric-powered data center.  Every data center plugs into the grid offered by their utility or power provider.  Even when a facility is in close proximity to an individual source of energy, such a dam or coal plant, there is no guarantee that the electrons from that source are flowing to the facility at any particular time. 

“It’s true that the local utility for the region we chose, Pacific Power, has an energy mix that is weighted slightly more toward coal than the national average,” Facebook officials told TMC (News - Alert). “ However, the efficiency we are able to achieve because of the climate of the region and the reduced energy usage that results minimizes our overall carbon footprint.”

“ Said differently, if we located the data center most other places, we would need mechanical chillers, use more energy, and be responsible for more overall carbon in the air—even if that location was fueled by more renewable energy,” the spokesperson added.

Since Facebook plans to have the Prineville, Oregon, data center for quite some time, the decision of energy source was weighed in over the lifetime of the facility.

“Pacific Power, the energy provider we’ll use in Oregon, has an aggressive plan for increasing their renewable energy mix.  In fact, their most recent plan calls for having more than 2,000 megawatts of renewable resources by 2013,” Facebook officials said. “Thus, our data center is only going to get more green over time as these resources come on line and contribute even greater portions of the facility’s energy.”

Kelly McGuire is a TMCnet Web editor, covering CRM and workforce technologies, and anchor of its daily TMC Newsroom video broadcast. Kelly also writes about eco-friendly 'green' technologies and smart grids, compiling TMCnet's weekly e-Newsletters on those topics, as well as the cable industry. To read more of Kelly's articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Kelly McGuire