Facebook vows to run operations with 100% renewable energy by 2020
San Francisco, Aug 29 : Aiming to make its energy-guzzling data centres environment friendly, Facebook has pledged it would power its global operations with 100 per cent renewable energy by the end of 2020.
The social networking giant also said it was committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 75 per cent in the same time frame.
"In a record-breaking year of corporate renewable energy purchases, Facebook is on track to be one of the largest corporate purchasers of renewable energy. Facebook has signed contracts for over three gigawatts of new solar and wind energy, that includes over 2,500 megawatts in just the past 12 months," the company wrote in a blog post late on Tuesday.
Notably, tech titans such as Facebook, Google and Amazon consume extraordinary quantities of electricity to power their global networks of data centres and infrastructure across the globe.
In 2015, the company had set a goal of supporting 50 per cent of its facilities with renewable energy by the end of 2018. "We have achieved that goal a year early, by reaching 51 per cent clean and renewable energy in 2017," the company added.
Last year, the company pledged its support for climate action by supporting the Paris Agreement through the "We Are Still In Initiative".
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Farmers in Chincholi demand better MSP, accuse sugar factory owners of not fulfilling assurance
Kalaburagi: Members of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS) and the Taluk Raitha Hitarakshana Samiti protested outside the Siddasiri Ethanol Power Unit in Chincholi, demanding appropriate minimum support price (MSP) to sugarcane farmers in Chincholi.
Pointing out that it was decided at the meeting chaired by District In-charge Minister Priyank Kharge on November 15 to provide farmers an MSP of Rs 2,950 per tonne of sugarcane with an additional Rs 50 as support price from sugar factory owners, the protesting farmers also demanded that the decision be implemented.
“The Siddasiri sugar factory owner has violated the agreement by paying each farmer only Rs 2,550,” the farmers have alleged.
President of the KPRS Kalaburagi District Unit Sharanabasappa Mamashetti said, “When he opened the factory, legislator Basanagouda Patil Yatnal had assured that the factory would pay farmers in Kalaburagi an additional Rs 100, but has failed to live up to the word.”
The protesting farmers have demanded that the authorities concerned give priority to sugarcane farmers of Chincholi and Kalagi taluks to support the sugarcane crop. “Also, the factories should employ local youngsters and due measures should be taken to ensure the safety of the drivers of sugarcane transport vehicles,” they said.
They also handed their memorandum to Tahsildar Subbanna Jamakhandi and Power Ethanol Unit General Manager Dayananda Banagara.
The Tahsildar has assured that a meeting with the sugar factory owners would be held to discuss the issues raised by the farmers.
