Heat wave season will kick in soon bringing demand for electricity higher than the sky. Once again we’ll be constantly on the verge of an outage and being asked to reduce our consumption.
This won’t be a preachy green post. Just a friendly reminder.
As social networking tools touch more facets of our lives, we tend to forget that the “cloud” that all our content lives on is really a big electricity-guzzling, farmland-replacing multi-floor web server warehouse with 24 hour air conditioning.
Add the mobile provider’s data warehouse when we text n’ surf on our smart phones.
I’m not writing to say take a leave of absence from the Internet during the summer. It’s enticing, however, I doubt most people just. can’t. go. without. for. even. a. day. Full disclosure: myself included. I’ve also been thinking about getting a solar powered phone charger. But I digress.
I have 2 ideas for these data warehouses. Let me know if they’ve already been done: install solar panels on the roofs or build them underground to save on air conditioning. Hm, maybe that last one isn’t too great for earthquakes.
P.S. I wish I wish I wish I was able to work on my laptop in the outdoors.