The Cloud Is Killing The Planet

renegadefm

Well I am just mentioning what I heard. Their concerns were about the fact that most people dont realize places like the cloud are run by msssive power hungry computers, with whole buildings full of them using fossil fuels. 
It quite shocked me to be honest.
https://www.bbconsult.co.uk/blog/cloud-security-who-owns-the-data/amp

wongataa

renegadefm said:

Well I am just mentioning what I heard. Their concerns were about the fact that most people dont realize places like the cloud are run by msssive power hungry computers, with whole buildings full of them using fossil fuels. 
It quite shocked me to be honest.
https://www.bbconsult.co.uk/blog/cloud-security-who-owns-the-data/amp

These data centres are not solely powered by fossil fuels.  Depending on where they are they can be powered mostly by renewable energy.  The power grid has many energy sources and as more and more renewable sources come on line everything connected to uses less fossil fuels.

Listen to the linked More or Less podcast.

Slithery

renegadefm said:

Their concerns were about the fact that most people dont realize places like the cloud are run by msssive power hungry computers, with whole buildings full of them

What do these people think run all the websites - unicorns?

renegadefm

Its shocking to me that our selfish need for our power hungry lives is one of the main things that will kill us. 
Surely we need to look back and rewrite how we live?
Where will this end? Quite possibly very sadly. 

tempus_fugit

renegadefm said:

It was a thing on 5 Live at about 2am but it stressed that if people think that storing things online is efficient they are seriously mistaken. 
These sites like the Cloud uses massive computer systems driven by fossile fuels which is killing our planet. 
A far greater disruption to the environment than we were doing lets say in the 70's with polaroid snaps. They even mentioned why cant we go back to storing things like photos the old way, and store things in our own homes the physical way instead of having power hungry computers running all over the world storing our data. It really was a disturbing thing to hear. 

It sounds just like it was someone with an axe to grind and who wants to take us back into a supposed golden past. It’s one point of view and you have take all of these sorts of ”statements”, especially on media outlets, with a large pinch of sodium chloride.

I’m sure we could save a lot of energy by going back to paper etc, but there would be other environmental impacts of that, as has been pointed out. Plus there is the fact that the larger data storage companies are investing heavily in using renewables such as solar and thermal.

So, instead of being horrified as soon as someone mentions some bad stuff about today’s world it helps to go out and check other sources for a more balanced view. Of course there are some romantic notions of how nice it was in the past with a simpler life, but if followed that mantra we’d still be living in caves. Personally I don’t want to go back to storing everything physically in the house. We’ve decluttered and thrown out tonnes of stuff, and yet we still don’t seem to have enough space. But the house is a hell of lot less cluttered as a result.

Cornucopia

renegadefm said:

Its shocking to me that our selfish need for our power hungry lives is one of the main things that will kill us. 
Surely we need to look back and rewrite how we live?
Where will this end? Quite possibly very sadly. 

Just in terms of burning wood, coal or peat for heating and water heating we can't go back to the way things were.   Can you imagine an 38 million person mega-city like Tokyo where every household is burning smokey fuel several times a day?   It would be an environmental disaster.

To the extent that we are exporting our environmental impact away from our homes, down the supply lines to other parts of the country or the World, you are correct.   However we do that for sound reasons (of economies of scale, of diligent environmental protection (mostly) and because in the case of electricity there is a fundamental flexibility in supply options). 

onomatopoeia99

renegadefm said:

Well I am just mentioning what I heard. Their concerns were about the fact that most people dont realize places like the cloud are run by msssive power hungry computers, with whole buildings full of them using fossil fuels. 
It quite shocked me to be honest.
https://www.bbconsult.co.uk/blog/cloud-security-who-owns-the-data/amp

That article is about IP rights and not about energy, but never mind.  
Posit your lower power alternatives.  While you do, bear in mind that one "power hungry computer" can store millions of photographs.  How much power is needed to manufacture the paper, ink, ink cartridges and printers needed to create physical copies of those photos?

Further, the companies hosting these pay a lot of attention to the power they consume, as it is a major cost to them.  As a consequence, Norway is a popular location for hosting nowadays because of the prevalence of hydroelectric power there.