Back in April, Greenpeace,  the non-governmental environmental protection and conservation organization, published a report entitled: “How Dirty Is Your Data?”  The report pointed out how companies are using more energy as they move to the cloud.  Some were able to use clean energy while others, like Facebook, were scrutinized for not adhering in using clean energy.

The report stated that Facebook uses 53.2% of dirty coal energy, was given a D for transparency,  an F for infrastructure siting, and a D for mitigation strategy.  It doesn’t take a genius to know what this means: Facebook isn’t taking the necessary steps in keeping our environment clean.  And Greenpeace wasn’t happy about it.

Even before the report was published, Greenpeace was already challenging Facebook with their Unfriend Coal Campaign.  They know that no matter how tough anyone is, they would eventually succumb to peer pressure.  So they invited everyone to participate in their campaign which they hoped would be put in the Guinness World Record for the most number of comments in 24 hours.  And they were successful with over 80,000 comments in 24 hours.  Greenpeace volunteers made photo collages, ads etc. about their campaign and it spread like wildfire.  And now, Facebook’s caved.

Facebook and Greenpeace released their official statement regarding their collaboration..

“Facebook is committed to supporting the development of clean and renewable sources of energy, and our goal is to power all of our operations with clean and renewable energy. Building on our leadership in energy efficiency (through the Open Compute Project), we are working in partnership with Greenpeace and others to create a world that is highly efficient and powered by clean and renewable energy.”

Facebook will do their part by:

• Adopting a siting policy that states a preference for access to clean and renewable energy supply
• Ongoing research into energy efficiency and the open sharing of that technology through the Open Compute Project
• Ongoing research into clean energy solutions for our future data centers
• Engaging in a dialogue with our utility providers about increasing the supply of clean energy that power Facebook data centers

While Greenpeace will help Facebook by giving:

• Active support for the Open Compute Project, including encouraging companies to join the effort, use the technology, and share their efficiency technology
• Encouraging utility providers to offer ways for customers to get their utility data, including by joining the partnership with Opower, Facebook, and NRDC
• Recognize company leadership in advancing best practices in efficiency or sustainability technology through the open source sharing of design and technology advances.

And by working together, they will be able to:

• Develop and promote experiences on Facebook that help people and organizations connect with ways to save energy and engage their communities in clean energy issues.
• Co-host roundtables and discussions with experts on energy issues.
• Jointly engage other large energy users and producers to address the energy choice they are facing and develop new clean energy rather than recommission coal plants or build new coal plants.

Still, this is just a written statement, how can we know for sure that Facebook would stick to their word?  We don’t, we’ll just have to wait and see if Facebook has the guts to pull this off.  But for now, Greenpeace together with other environmental advocates, are happy that Facebook Friends Renewable Energy.