1. Environmental Energy Technologies NYAcademytalk001022.ppt Office equipment electricity use: Of urban legends and key uncertainties Jonathan Koomey, Ph.D. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory JGKoomey@lbl.gov, 510/486-5974, http://enduse.lbl.gov/ Download: http://enduse.lbl.gov/shareddata/NYAcademytalk001022.ppt Presented at The NY Academy of Sciences/Tellus Institute Joint Symposium on E-Commerce and the Environment October 24 - 25, 2000 New York, New York

2. Environmental Energy Technologies NYAcademytalk001022.ppt Debunking an urban legend  The Internet Begins with Coal, by Mark Mills, published in Forbes in May 1999 (widely cited)  Mills–the Internet accounts for 8% of all U.S. electricity use (at least 8 times too high).  Mills–all office equipment accounts for 13% of all U.S. electricity use (about 4 times too high).  Mills ignores systemic effects (Romm 1999) and structural change (Laitner 2000).  For documentation of the controversy go to http://enduse.lbl.gov/Projects/InfoTech.html

3. Environmental Energy Technologies NYAcademytalk001022.ppt Mills’ electricity “used by the internet”, corrected by LBNL TWh per year

4. Environmental Energy Technologies NYAcademytalk001022.ppt A key uncertainty: Data centers/server hotels  Some utilities receiving requests for tens to hundreds of MW of power from proposed data centers  Estimates for power use almost certainly too large — One facility maximum = 90 W/sf, actual <40W/sf. — Another facility claimed 65 W/sf, but floor area defined incorrectly to exclude aisles and other common areas, leading to an overestimate of power use (this definition is critical) — Still another facility took direct server load and multiplied by three (!) to account for cooling, lighting, and other uses (implies a COP of about 0.5, 3-4 times too low)

5. Environmental Energy Technologies NYAcademytalk001022.ppt Upper bound estimate to electricity used by data centers in the U.S (1) Floor area taken from Juarez, Richard A. 2000. Virtual Bricks II: Virtual Econ 101 Update: A Comprehensive Guide for Understanding eCommerce Infrastructure Evolution and Convergence. Boston, MA: FleetBoston Robertson Stephens Inc. May. (2) Power density is an upper bound based on recent discussions with experts. (3) Electricity use calculated assuming 8760 hours per year operation, flat load curve. (4) Total U.S. electricity use taken from EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2000. Contact: JGKoomey@lbl.gov, 510/486-5974.

6. Environmental Energy Technologies NYAcademytalk001022.ppt Join the network for energy, environment, efficiency, and the information economy (N4E) http://N4E.lbl.gov

7. Environmental Energy Technologies NYAcademytalk001022.ppt Conclusions  Recent accounts contain large overestimates of electricity used by computers and network equipment.  Understanding the systemic effects of information technology is critically important.  Credible data are urgently needed to reduce uncertainties, particularly on electricity used by data centers and other high power density facilities.