Cloud computing could lead to $12.3 billion in energy saving and 85.7 million metric tons of CO2 savings annually by 2020, according to a study by the Carbon Disclosure Project.

 That’s the equivalent of 200 million barrels of oil - "enough to power 5.7 million cars for one year".

Companies adopting cloud computing can radically reduce energy consumption, lower their carbon emissions and cut expenditure on IT resources whilst improving efficiency.

This is great news... I think. Hang on a mo. What is cloud computing? Right. I think I’ve got it. I’ve just watched a video: "Cloud computing is a style of computing where elastic and scaleable IT enabled capabilities are delivered as a service to external customers using internet technologies". Thank you, Tom Bittman.

Andrew Winston, leading expert on sustainable business and author of Green to Gold and Green Recovery, said: "Finding providers and partners that can take some of your energy-using operations to scale, and manage them in a shared capacity, is good for both business's carbon footprint and its bottom line."

So, it’s a sharing thing. It's about sharing networks, applications and services on the internet. And that’s got to be good.

Still none the wiser? Hey, I’m just here to write about energy saving. Please don’t get snippy with me on the technological stuff or I’ll have to invoke Jagger’s Law and say "Hey! You! Get off my cloud!"

[Image: IronMal]