-
Facebook’s Green Data Center, Powered by Coal?
Here’s an interesting wrinkle on the unveiling of the new Facebook data center in Prineville, Oregon. In announcing the facility, Facebook emphasized its energy efficiency and use of renewable power resources. Cheap, green hydro power was a major attraction when Google built a data center in Oregon, so it was assumed that the Facebook data center would be supported primarily by hydro power from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA).
Not so, according to Matt Stansberry from SearchDataCenter. Matt, an Oregon resident, took a closer look at the utility power that will support Facebook.
“Pacific Power, a utility owned by PacifiCorp, will provide the electricity” in Prineville, Matt writes. “While Pacific Power gets some hydropower from BPA, its primary power-generation fuel is coal, according to Jason Carr, the manager of the Prineville office of economic development for Central Oregon.”
It turns out the BPA will soon be implementing a tiered pricing system in which new customers will pay a higher rate to offset the costs of non-hydro generation the BPA will purchase to meet growing demand.
“With the price of hydropower increasing in the Northwest, Facebook opted to bet on the incremental price increases associated with coal rather than face tier-two pricing from BPA,” Matt writes.
This is a good example of the “clean vs. cheap” dilemma faced by data centers with massive power requirements. Companies like Google and Facebook want to be as green as possible, but must also control costs. The economics of on-site generation of using wind or solar power still don’t add up for most providers. That means the best way to use more renewable energy in the data center is to buy it from the utility company.
You’d think sourcing clean power would be straightforward in a state like Oregon, where hydro represents about 60 percent of power generation. As Facebook illustrates, the tension between environmental green and economic green is usually resolved in favor of the greenbacks.
About Rich Miller
Rich Miller is the founder and editor-in-chief of Data Center Knowledge, and has been reporting on the data center sector since 2000. He has tracked the growing impact of high-density computing on the power and cooling of data centers, and the resulting push for improved energy efficiency in these facilities.
Tuesday data center tidbits. « The Server Room
Posted February 2nd, 2010[...] that, while Facebook is touting the use of renewable power resources in its Oregon data center, the utility supplying them is actually mostly coal fired. Cheap? Probably. Renewable? Not unless you’ve got millions of years. Green? Not a chance. [...]
This is a great example of a short sighted approach to buying energy. The price for coal at point of delivery might be lower on a day to day basis that Hydro, but the long term costs of coal as a result of the negative environmental impact mean that coal is probably much more expensive. A good analogy would be the taxes paid by smokers. Some of that tax is supposed to be used to help pay for the health costs created by second hand smoke inhalation. At some point this decision by Facebook might come back to bite them in the form of taxes similar to those paid by smokers.
See my blog post on this today at the above link. I include empirical data on this very subject. LEED Platinum + Coal = Try again…
We just started a petition on Change.org which asking Mark Zuckerberg to reconsider using an alternative energy source for the new data center, like Google and Microsoft. You can check it out at:
http://www.change.org/actions/view/stop_facebook_from_switching_to_dirty_coal
Lee Weinstein
Posted February 15th, 2010I’m writing on behalf of Facebook to share their response to the issues you’ve posed.
Most electrical commercial and residential power in the United States comes from a variety of sources. Our new data center will be receiving our power through PacifiCorp, which like most utilities has a diverse generation portfolio including hydro, geothermal, wind and coal. PacifiCorp is now the #1 utility owner operator of renewables, having grown their portfolio 2,400 percent over the past three years.
When it comes online in early 2011, the new Facebook data center will also be one of the most energy efficient in the world, featuring an innovative cooling system created for the unique climate characteristics in Prineville, Oregon.
The new, world class energy-efficiency technologies the Facebook data center will utilize include an evaporative cooling system; an airside economizer that will bring colder air in from the outside; re-use of server heat to warm office space in the colder months; and new patent pending highly efficient electrical design will reduce electricity usage by up to 12 percent. The entire facility will be built to LEED Gold standards.
The State of Oregon has a very aggressive Renewable Portfolio Standard, calling for 25 percent of power in the state to be produced by renewable resources by 2025. Facebook believes this policy will ensure continued growth of renewable generation resources.
Facebook’s commitment is, regardless of generation source, to use electricity as wisely and as efficiently as possible.
Thanks for your consideration.
Lee
Facebook Spokesman Defends Coal-Powered Data Center
Posted February 17th, 2010[...] unaware of the choice of energy? The bottom line is that Google’s data center in Oregon was based on “cheap, green hydro power”, so why isn’t Facebook doing the same thing for their [...]
Facebook Answers Criticism on Energy Sources For New Data Center « CleanOregon
Posted February 17th, 2010[...] Rich Miller’s articles here and [...]
Daniel Kessler: How Facebook (and other IT companies) can help kick coal off your computer | Old People News
Posted February 23rd, 2010[...] it was building its first data center, in Prineville, Oregon. Unfortunately for the climate,we soon found outthat instead of renewable energy, Facebook chose to operate its data center with energy from Pacific [...]
Should FaceBook’s investors be worried that the site is sourcing energy for its new data center from coal? — GreenMonk: the blog
Posted February 23rd, 2010[...] it soon emerged that FaceBook are purchasing the electricity for their data center from Pacific Power, a utility owned by PacifiCorp, a utility whose primary power-generation fuel is [...]
Should FaceBook’s investors be worried that the site is sourcing energy for its new data center from coal?
Posted February 23rd, 2010[...] it soon emerged that FaceBook are purchasing the electricity for their data center from Pacific Power, a utility owned by PacifiCorp, a utility whose primary power-generation fuel is [...]
Can Facebook’s coal-powered efficient data center still be green? « N Plus One
Posted February 24th, 2010[...] the other hand, SearchDataCenter.com, DataCenterKnowledge, a later post by GreenerComputing itself, and others point out that the data center will be [...]
Facebook Gets Coal-Fired Blast | Tech Alps
Posted September 17th, 2010[...] According to Search Data Center, it all boils down to cost, and avoiding tiered energy rates for new customers, thanks to the BPA (Bonneville Power Administration), “the federal agency that operates dams on the Columbia River and sells the power at cost to utilities.” [...]
Facebook Goes Green | Greediocracy
Posted December 15th, 2011[...] 2010 information core is essentially powered by coal, spurring a worldwide [...]
» Victory for Greenpeace as Facebook Un-Likes Coal Pike Research
Posted January 10th, 2012[...] announced a new purpose-built data center, which it turned out would depend on electricity mainly generated from coal. Facebook cited its commitment to building an energy-efficient data center, but Greenpeace argued [...]
Victory for Greenpeace as Facebook Un-Likes Coal | CleanTechies Blog - CleanTechies.com
Posted January 13th, 2012[...] announced a new purpose-built data center, which it turned out would depend on electricity mainly generated from coal. Facebook cited its commitment to building an energy-efficient data center, but Greenpeace argued [...]
Victory for Greenpeace as Facebook Un-Likes Coal – Clear The Air Energy Blog
Posted January 15th, 2012[...] announced a new purpose-built data center, which it turned out would depend on electricity mainly generated from coal. Facebook cited its commitment to building an energy-efficient data center, but Greenpeace argued [...]
Facebook Spokesman Defends Coal-Powered Data Center - AllFacebook
Posted April 10th, 2012[...] unaware of the choice of energy? The bottom line is that Google’s data center in Oregon was based on “cheap, green hydro power”, so why isn’t Facebook doing the same thing for their [...]
Building A Cloud-Savvy Model for TCO and ROI
How Storage is Shaping The Cloud Data Center
Bringing Colo to the Customer: Modular Gets Local
Microsoft’s $1 Billion Data Center
February 2nd, 2010