Environmental impact of Wikipedia

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Andrea Zanni

5 Jul 2015 5 Jul '15

5:45 p.m.

Hello everyone. I tried to find the info myself, with little success: I'm interested to know about the environmental impact of running Wikipedia (carbon emissions, etc.) and what we are doing about it. Sorry if I missed wikimedia-l threads, or other sources. The only thing I found regarding a green data center is a 2009 press release [1]. If I understand correctly, it was a carbon neutral data center. But, it was 2009. Now, it seems that we have a new data center [2][3]. I'm wondering what is the environmental impact of it, as "encironmental impact" was in the primary requirements for the choice [3]. More generally: does the Wikimedia Foundation have a "green" policy? Do other chapters? What can we do about it? Are we interested in doing something about it? IMHO, I think we should discuss this. I remember quite vividly that a representative of Greenpeace, at Wikimania in London, was quite clear in saying that we are not really good in this matter. As Wikimedia, as a whole, is more and more exposed (we now fight for the privacy of our users, (and I'm personally very proud of it)), and as we are the 5th website in the world, maybe it's a topic worth talking. Thank you Aubrey [1] https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_Selects_EvoSw… [2] https://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/05/05/wikimedia-foundation-selects-cyrusone… [3] http://www.cyrusone.com/data-center-locations/dallas-data-center-carrollton… [4] https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/RFP/2013_Datacenter#Primary_Requiremen…

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Guillaume Paumier

5 Jul 5 Jul

6:12 p.m.

Hello Andrea, Le dimanche 5 juillet 2015, 17:45:34 Andrea Zanni a écrit :

...

I tried to find the info myself, with little success: I'm interested to know about the environmental impact of running Wikipedia (carbon emissions, etc.) and what we are doing about it. Sorry if I missed wikimedia-l threads, or other sources.

Andrea Zanni

7:02 p.m.

Thanks Guillaume, didn't find those. It's kinda difficult though to find some useful numbers in those threads, and some arguments I'm reading are completely crazy :-) So I think it would be good to start a new thread. Moreover, WMF is pretty bigger than it was in 2007 or 2009, and I think a new discussion is due. Climate change is a fact, governments are talking about that all the time, even the pope wrote an encyclical about that! It's an important topic, and I bet it is also for our donors. I'm not really interested in talking about efficiency, as I take for granted that Engineering team is trying hard to optimize the whole thing, which is also good in terms of carbon emissions. What are we doing, beside that? Do we have a rough estimate of the impact of Wikipedia (authorship, readership, servers. Not talking about plane tickets here.)? Aubrey On Sun, Jul 5, 2015 at 6:12 PM, Guillaume Paumier <gpaumier(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

...

Hello Andrea, Le dimanche 5 juillet 2015, 17:45:34 Andrea Zanni a écrit :

I tried to find the info myself, with little success: I'm interested to know about the environmental impact of running

Wikipedia

(carbon emissions, etc.) and what we are doing about it. Sorry if I missed wikimedia-l threads, or other sources.

Here are a couple of old threads to get you started: 2007: "WMF-projects: Carbon neutral/low/aware website?" http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.org.wikimedia.foundation/17517 2009: "Wikimedia and Environment" http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.org.wikimedia.foundation/43381 The numbers discussed in those threads are undoubtedly out of date, but I imagine some of the arguments still apply. Hope that helps :) -- Guillaume Paumier _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

Gerard Meijssen

6 Jul 6 Jul

5:25 p.m.

Hoi, Greenpeace has a great writeup on the subject. It describes the current issues with the use of energy and how big websites make a difference. Thanks, GerardM http://www.greenpeace.nl/Global/nederland/report/2015/Klimaat%20en%20energi… On 5 July 2015 at 17:45, Andrea Zanni <zanni.andrea84(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

Garfield Byrd

6:57 p.m.

Here is the link to the other Greenpeace Report. <http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/Global/usa/planet3/PDFs/2015ClickCleanKeyFindings.pdf> This fiscal year we are going to see what can be done, if anything, to influence the owners of the data centers and the building owner for our offices to use more renewable energy. Regards, Garfield On Mon, Jul 6, 2015 at 8:25 AM, Gerard Meijssen <gerard.meijssen(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

Hello everyone. I tried to find the info myself, with little success: I'm interested to know about the environmental impact of running

Wikipedia

(carbon emissions, etc.) and what we are doing about it. Sorry if I missed wikimedia-l threads, or other sources. The only thing I found regarding a green data center is a 2009 press release [1]. If I understand correctly, it was a carbon neutral data center. But, it was 2009. Now, it seems that we have a new data center [2][3]. I'm wondering what is the environmental impact of it, as "encironmental impact" was in the primary requirements for the choice [3]. More generally: does the Wikimedia Foundation have a "green" policy? Do other chapters? What can we do about it? Are we interested in doing something about it? IMHO, I think we should discuss this. I remember quite vividly that a representative of Greenpeace, at

Wikimania

in London, was quite clear in saying that we are not really good in this matter. As Wikimedia, as a whole, is more and more exposed (we now fight for the privacy of our users, (and I'm personally very proud of it)), and as we are the 5th website in the world, maybe it's a topic worth talking. Thank you Aubrey [1]

https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_Selects_EvoSw…

[2]

https://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/05/05/wikimedia-foundation-selects-cyrusone…

[3]

http://www.cyrusone.com/data-center-locations/dallas-data-center-carrollton…

[4]

https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/RFP/2013_Datacenter#Primary_Requiremen…

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Gerard Meijssen

7 Aug 7 Aug

8:28 a.m.

Hoi, We can certainly aim to influence the owners. What I have read about this subject is that it is as much about having power produced that is green. We can invest in green energy and at all times at least generate the amount of energy that we use in this way. As a consequence we will increase the availability of green power and more importantly we make a statement that is soo necessary. When we invest close to our datacentres, we can push the utilities to transport the power (they often do not want to) and maybe invest in clean power as well. With the current plans of Mr Obama, we will see higher temperatures than the 2 degrees Celsius that is considered safe. If every country uses the USA as its yardstick, the Netherlands will prove to be closer to the arctic than New York . This is relevant because the ice of the North Pole will melt and the gulf stream will stop. We will get cold in winter. Thanks, Gerardm On 6 July 2015 at 18:57, Garfield Byrd <gbyrd(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

...

Here is the link to the other Greenpeace Report. < http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/Global/usa/planet3/PDFs/2015ClickCleanKeyFind…

This fiscal year we are going to see what can be done, if anything, to influence the owners of the data centers and the building owner for our offices to use more renewable energy. Regards, Garfield On Mon, Jul 6, 2015 at 8:25 AM, Gerard Meijssen <gerard.meijssen(a)gmail.com

wrote: > Hoi, > Greenpeace has a great writeup on the subject. It describes the current > issues with the use of energy and how big websites make a difference. > Thanks, > GerardM

http://www.greenpeace.nl/Global/nederland/report/2015/Klimaat%20en%20energi…

> On 5 July 2015 at 17:45, Andrea Zanni <zanni.andrea84(a)gmail.com> wrote:

> > Hello everyone. > > I tried to find the info myself, with little success: > > I'm interested to know about the environmental impact of running > Wikipedia > > (carbon emissions, etc.) and what we are doing about it. > > Sorry if I missed wikimedia-l threads, or other sources. >

> > The only thing I found regarding a green data center is a 2009 press > > release [1]. > > If I understand correctly, it was a carbon neutral data center. >

> > But, it was 2009. Now, it seems that we have a new data center [2][3]. >

> > I'm wondering what is the environmental impact of it, as "encironmental > > impact" was in the primary requirements for the choice [3]. > > More generally: does the Wikimedia Foundation have a "green" policy? Do > > other chapters? What can we do about it? Are we interested in doing > > something about it? >

> > IMHO, I think we should discuss this. > > I remember quite vividly that a representative of Greenpeace, at > Wikimania > > in London, was quite clear in saying that we are not really good in this > > matter. >

> > As Wikimedia, as a whole, is more and more exposed (we now fight for the > > privacy of our users, (and I'm personally very proud of it)), > > and as we are the 5th website in the world, maybe it's a topic worth > > talking. >

> > Thank you >

> > Aubrey >

> > [1] >

https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_Selects_EvoSw… > > [2] >

https://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/05/05/wikimedia-foundation-selects-cyrusone… > > [3] >

http://www.cyrusone.com/data-center-locations/dallas-data-center-carrollton… > > [4] >

https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/RFP/2013_Datacenter#Primary_Requiremen… > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

-- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org <https://donate.wikimedia.org/>* _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

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Andrea Zanni
Garfield Byrd
Gerard Meijssen
Guillaume Paumier