Apple, Google and Facebook have made big strides in their commitment towards environmental concerns, says the new report from Greenpeace.
The assumption is based on the progress made by these technology giants in adopting renewable energy sources to power their Web services.
On the other hand, Amazon Web Services (AWS) which operates at least 18 data centers around the world, was among the least committed to renewable energy, earning F grades in three out of Greenpeace’s four categories.
Commenting on the low score of companies like AWS, Greenpeace said, some Internet companies “have refused to pay even lip service to sustainability and are simply buying dirty energy straight from the grid.”
“Those companies, most notably Amazon Web Services, are choosing how to power their infrastructure based solely on lowest electricity prices,” the report reads.
Six major Internet services companies – Facebook, Apple, Google, Box, Rackspace and Salesforce.com – have committed to making their data center operations 100 percent based on renewable energy, according to the report.
In 2012, Apple and Facebook faced severe criticism from Greenpeace over their failure to meet environmental sustainability goals. Greenpeace had come openly against these companies saying they relied extensively on coal to generate power.
In 2013, however, both companies made significant progress and pledged to adopt renewable energy sources to power their data centers.
Google, on the other hand, has been hailed as the top IT company for sustainable solutions by Greenpeace for several consecutive years. The search engine giant has pledged to use 100 percent renewable energy as it sees renewable as a business opportunity.
Apple has now built on-site solar panel farm and fuel-cells at its North Carolina data center and has procured renewable energy directly at its other three facilities. As a result, the company was ranked no.1 on the “scorecard” of Internet company data centers that Greenpeace issues every two years.
Apple also scored A grade in efforts in transparency, renewable energy policy and renewable energy deployment as against the mix of D and F grades in Greenpeace’s 2012 report.
The report looked at 19 companies that operate more than 300 data centers combined. Greenpeace used information provided by the companies and utilities to estimate what portion of a company’s Internet infrastructure is going to be based on renewable energy, which it refers to as a “Clean Energy Index.”
Renewable energy credits, which a company can purchase to meet clean energy goals, were not counted.
Apple’s Clean Energy Index was 100 percent, while Facebook and Google were rated by Greenpeace at 49 percent and 48 percent, respectively. Amazon Web Services had a Clean Energy Index of 15 percent.
Google has been a leader in committing to renewable energy, with procurement deals to purchase wind power from utilities in several states, Greenpeace said. But with 13 data centers, compared with Apple’s four, the company faces a bigger task in shifting its overall energy usage to renewable sources, so it was pushed behind Apple.
The growth of Internet services has pushed the demand for electricity. Renewable energy commitments from technology firms have started putting pressure on utilities to offer wind, solar and other forms of renewable power, Greenpeace said.