by Shane Henson — December 23, 2011—After coming under heavy pressure from Greenpeace to power its data centers with clean energy instead of coal, Facebook has announced it will change its course. The social media giant said it will begin collaborating with Greenpeace on the promotion of renewable energy, encourage major utilities to develop renewable energy generation, and develop programs that will enable Facebook users to save energy and engage their communities in clean energy decisions.
The news comes two years after Greenpeace launched its global Unfriend Coal Campaign, enlisting 700,000 online activists to call on Facebook to stop using coal to power its many data centers. As a result of the announcement from Facebook, the campaign has ended, says Greenpeace’s leadership.
Facebook’s goal is to now power its operations, including its data centers, using clean and renewable energy. The company says it will build on its leadership in energy efficiency through its Open Compute Project to encourage other information technology (IT) companies to power its operations with clean, renewable energy.
Also, as part of the agreement, Facebook will continue pursuing ongoing research into energy efficiency and the open sharing of that technology through the Open Compute Project, which Greenpeace will work to support. Facebook also plans to engage in dialogue with utility providers about the sources of energy that power their data centers.
