Tech companies including Google, Apple, and Microsoft have made significant economic and social investments in their data centers.
By purchasing power from renewable power generation utilities or in many cases building their own solar arrays, data centers are becoming greener. Apple has been able to claim that company data centers have been fully or mostly green for years. Microsoft has made public private partnerships with green partners, worked on underwater data centers, and committed to being at least a 50% renewable target. Google has made significant commitments to sustainability and worked to implement renewable targets in its data centers as well (AI, underwater, floating barges, etc.).
What does this get them?
The reality is consumers want to feel good about the products and services that they are using. The current generations of people have a growing percentage that appreciates the environment, worries about climate change, and chooses to spend their dollars on green companies where it is financially prudent (and sometimes even when it is not). This is especially true for the young. Is this only a public relations move or a way to make money? Public relations certainly plays into it. Apple has made investments into sustainability, recycling technology e-waste, and reclamation. These moves allow them to source materials for next generation hardware and dispose of toxic components that would otherwise end up in the environment. It also gains favor from their customer base which has high expectations for the company in terms of privacy, innovation, and corporate stewardship. Google was known early on for Don't be evil. Being a good corporate citizen that cares about the environment can certainly be seen as being benevolent especially one that has the influence to avoid doing so if it so chose. Microsoft for years was viewed as the Man. Caring about the environment is trendy and against the establishment and certainly can be associated with a kinder, gentler corporate titan.
Is this also a play on the future of energy production?
EU nations and notably the state of California in the U.S. have set aggressive targets to regulate and control the carbon footprint of businesses within their sphere of influence. This is based on public opinion and the result of electoral outcomes. By making these investments now, the major tech companies are working to avoid regulatory headaches later and possibly insulate themselves from unpredictable price hikes if carbon taxes are implemented or energy generation costs rise and are pushed down the line to businesses and everyday consumers. Future population growth is also a concern as demand will rise. Another complication is that people and businesses expect and demand predictable, reliable service. What happens during peak demand if solar generation is low due to the season or the orbit of the Earth relative to the sun? What if it is just not that windy that day? How about if the geothermal or hydro power sources cannot keep up with demand? To accomplish implementing a green strategy, the companies will need to look at using more than one renewable energy source, finding power savings where possible, and having redundancies in place. It is not a simple definitive statement of intent or action but the problem they are trying to solve is not a simple one either when looking at current wants and needs.
Is this about just doing the right thing?
People and times change. Leaders respond to change and adapt to it while maintaining their core values. In the case of business leaders, they need to maintain profitability, pursue growth, and make decisions that best address the needs of their stakeholders. Making these moves in green energy usage and in infrastructure investment can accomplish all of these.
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- Written by Javier S.
- Category: Tech trends
