Apple and Greenpeace Trade Blows in Data Center Grudge Match

Call it the battle of Maiden . This week , Apple and Greenpeace traded very public barbs over how much clean power is used by Apple ’s $ 1 billion state - of - the - art information center in Maiden , North Carolina .

But it appear that much of the disceptation stems from their inability to harmonize on what they ’re arguing about .

On Monday , Greenpeace resign a report calling Apple ’s data heart a power - athirst threat to the surroundings , but Apple respond by saying Greenpeace get its fact unseasonable . The primal sticking point is a unproblematic interrogation : How much energy is Apple ’s data heart burning ? Greenpeace sound out 100 megawatts , while Apple say it ’s only 20 megawatts .

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The truth may be somewhere in - between .

According to Greenpeace , Apple ’s information centre relies too much on ember - grow electrical energy , and the company has n’t done as much as it could to secure other , more environmentally friendly sources of power . They ’ve even produced a television to make the point :

Apple is clearly unhappy with the report . After all , it ’s adding some unprecedented unripe - zip generating features to the site , include a monolithic solar regalia on the website along with a 5 - megawatt biogas source . “ We believe this manufacture - leading project will make Maiden the green data gist ever built , ” say Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet , in an e-mail substance .

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She added that 60 percent of the 20 megawatts used by the facility will come from the site ’s solar farm and biogas - power fuel cells . About 5 megawatt of that will total from the fuel cells , and the other 7 from the solar regalia .

So why the disconnect?Greenpeace saysit got the 100 megawatt figure by doing a simple deliberation : 1MW of exponent requirement for every $ 15 million spent on the data point plaza plus 50 percent additional for non - computer energy demands . Apple , they add together , has say it plans to spend $ 1 billion at Maiden over the next decade .

But that $ 1 billion figure is n’t exactly the right identification number to use when compared to Apple ’s 20 megawatt digit . When it denote the Maiden facility last class , Applepegged its investment at $ 500 million . The troupe has reportedly told local official that it expect to put a total of $ 1 billion on the site over the next decennary – presumptively to pay for the green energy initiatives and possibly even build a second information nerve center when the pauperization arises – but that has n’t happen yet .

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So Greenpeace is spill the beans about an imaginary $ 1 billion facility , to be built sometime in the time to come . Apple appear to be talking about the $ 500 million adeptness that ’s up and black market today .

That makes the difference of opinion less stark . Using Greenpeace ’s same metrics , that would put the current Maiden facility at 50 megawatts .

Even so , Greenpeace ’s Gary Cook questions Apple ’s power consumption figure . “ It seems low even for the size of the be shell they have there if you face at other installation ” he say . “ I would ask as they continue to ramp up that facility , it will continue to go north . ”

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What he ’d wish to see is a commitment from Apple to keep buy renewable push , even as it expand the data center .

That ’s what Google has done , he tell . “ They ’ve actually put data centers in locating where the grid ’s not very unripe , but hey have matched this with long term 20 twelvemonth contracts for big chunks of wind , ” he allege . “ Companies like Apple and Microsoft could be doing this as well . There are wind developers who would like to bring their power to market . If they had forrader - looking troupe signing long - term contracts , that would aid make for more baron on the control grid . ”

Image by Apple

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