Lee, Justin. “Energy Usage of Server Farms.” large.stanford.edu. Standford University, 6 Dec. 2012. Web. 27 June 2014.
http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2012/ph240/lee1/
This source claims that one 50,000 square feet server farm uses about 5 megawatts continuously; that amount of energy would satisfy the needs of 5000 homes. The research also states that a lot of the energy produced comes from the plant itself and the cooling systems needed to sustain the servers. Google uses the heat produced by their servers to power local homes. I think this is a great way to use the heat produced by the server farms, but I can’t seem to find a lot of reliable information on exactly how much heat is being produced by Google’s servers and where the homes are that are being powered. The link below from Wired.com talks about how a third of Google’s data center power comes from renewable energy sources like wind and solar panels and the second link talks about how Google’s servers in Belgium don’t use air conditioning units in order to conserve energy. While Google is conscious of their energy expenditure, I’d like to know where Google powers homes with the heat produced in their server farms and the duration of time each home is powered for.
Further Reading/links
http://www.wired.com/2013/06/google_green/
http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2012/03/23/too-hot-for-humans-but-google-servers-keep-humming/
