Don't worry about it. I'm an environmentalist but I don't consider myself that extreme. The energy consumption is an issue that can be dealt with but Google already does a decent job of powering those data centers with renewable sources.
I just don't want people doing stupid things like sitting in a parking lot idling their car for 45 minutes with the heater cranked because they don't want to wear a coat.
The manufacturers of computers have done a great job in the last couple of years about using non toxic components and stuff that is recyclable. Its a start....we have to keep moving forward on being "more green" but that article is just stupid. Its why some of you think the whole movement is crazy...its not...its very practical on the whole....but some folks have to take it to the extreme.
Progress used to be pumping lots of smoke out of factories now the concept is to turn that around while still keeping the factories going. Its all doable without preventing people from making a quick Google search.
I would have liked to have seen Joule or KWh figures for the searches too. I presume the CO2 figures are based on the power generation mix of the location of servers and clients, and that might change over time with different generation technologies although given the installed base computer technology is likely to move faster.
Reducing power consumption is a Good Thing (tm) as it means reducing the running costs, something the search engine providers are no doubt aware of. The newer chips coming online have dramatically lower power draw for a given number of computations and better power scaling which will help the companies get more bang for the buck.
Nobody is a less a believer in so-called 'Global warming' than me. Last winter I kept track of winter weather all over the northern hemishere. And without any scientific training, predicted that the winter was cold enough and the melt season short enough that I was going around telling people that the Arctic ice cap surely must be growing, not retreating. And I turned out to be right! The polar ice cap grew by 700,000 square miles between August '07 and August '08. And given the severity of this winter, I'm predicting the same thing between August '08 and August '09!!
Check this out:
http://www.dailytech.com/Arcti...age/article12851.htm
Snore. There were no sun spots on the sun this year and very few last year. Its an 11 year cycle. Goes to show you what happens when you dont have any scientific training, one comes out with pseudoscientific crap like that.Originally posted by mortoma:
Nobody is a less a believer in so-called 'Global warming' than me. Last winter I kept track of winter weather all over the northern hemishere. And without any scientific training, predicted that the winter was cold enough and the melt season short enough that I was going around telling people that the Arctic ice cap surely must be growing, not retreating. And I turned out to be right! The polar ice cap grew by 700,000 square miles between August '07 and August '08. And given the severity of this winter, I'm predicting the same thing between August '08 and August '09!!
Check this out:
http://www.dailytech.com/Arcti...age/article12851.htm