AMD's energy goes renewable
by Erwan Pianezza, Locronan, Brittany on 10.26.05
We know that making a computer is one of the most polluting industrial operations : lead, phosphor, barium, and a basketfull of crap float around your favorite desktop. Well if all chip makers start behaving like AMD, the industry could get cleaner.
Big news : Austin based AMD headquarter announced yesterday a new agreement with the Austin Energy GreenChoice Program to purchase green energy derived from renewable resources that will power all AMD Austin operations for the next 10 years. And the result is expected to go beyond environmental protection : being less dependant on fossil fuel, AMD will certainly earn the possibility of manufacturing cheaper products.
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Cheers! I bought AMD all along - Now I understand why.
Not to narc on this great news, but AMD's fab (where chips are actually made) are in Dresden, Germany. I don't know who all are in Austin but probably, sales, contracts, marketing, and perhaps some engineers.
Still if it works for them here, it might get moved te their other sites as well.
How about dealing with the pollution when computers are scrapped for the junk heap?
Now if someone could deal with this problem on a large scale, that would be interesting.
Shoelover
I thought Germany was already on a big push for sustainable power. At least moreso than the US and Canada.
Looks like AMD Austin is more than just "sales, contracts, marketing".
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Corporate/AboutAMD/0,,51_52_502_12841,00.html
I agree, more chip makers and companies should try and help the environment. My web site hosting company called Affordable Internet Services Online, Inc is one company that is a responsible green web-hosting service that has been using solar power since 2001 and is environmentally friendly! Not only are they using solar power but have a propane powered generator for backup. 15+ Solar tubes to bring in natural light from the outside providing light during the day and AMD Opteron powered servers that use sixty percent less energy and generate fifty percent less heat and power all of their servers. The data center has several layers of insulation which give them an R value equal to R 50. This high R value keeps the cool air in and the hot air out, therefore reducing the amount of energy necessary to run the data center; plus the cooling system is built by Maytag and is energy star compliant. The company has been featured in Wired and Entrepreneur magazines. They are even looking into getting a green roof for their data center. Now here is a company which other companies should follow to help our environment. They have awesome tech support and using a green web hosting provider doesn't have to cost more, either. AISO.Net offers packages starting at $9.95 per month!
As someone who grew up a few stone's throws away from the new AMD's new Austin HQ, I feel obligated to point out the controversial side of AMD's environmental policy:
http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2005-04-22/pols_feature7.html
You beat me to it Spence, I live in Austin now, and there are many citizens who are fighting to keep AMD from creating a massive new office complex with too much imprevious ground cover. This ground cover would be over a sensitive environmental recharge zone for the Edward's Aquifer. They are attempting to get the land based on grandfathered grants that would allow them to have more imprevious ground cover than is currently allowed. If you want to send a message to AMD telling them to find another spot in Austin go to www.moveamd.com The folks in Austin would surely appreciate the Treehugger support.