07-04-2024, 08:44 AM
The whole climate thing is a money game, that's all it is.
Just the other day I was involved in a data center co-location negotiation. "Co-location" is the process of moving your IT data 'compute' and 'storage' assets to a data center which is used to host numerous companies assets all under one roof. Data centers are expensive (probably the most expensive kind of engineering and construction activities there are on a per square foot basis). Co-location amortizes this cost over a large number of users. In the negotiation I was involved in, the subject was how much "real estate" would be needed for our multi-petabyte hardware and applications.
At one point, one of the guys on our team asked a question about what percentage of their energy was from "green" renewable sources? The answer we got back was an instantaneous response of "100%!!!". I didn't really give a sh!t about the question, or their answer, personally, but the speed at which they replied with their answer was curious to say the least. Data centers are notoriously NOT "green" installations. In fact, they are about as opposite of 'green' as you can get. They have incredibly high watt per square foot utilization numbers, and they are dense with mechanical cooling and all sorts of other non-green stuff, like transformers and massive heat generating gear like racks and racks of high power servers, etc. Again, they are about as NON-GREEN as you can get. So, this company's instant response of "100%!!" was very curious indeed.
Being an engineer, I knew there was more to their answer than met the eye, despite the person who asked the question being completely satisfied with their response. So...I decided to explore their answer a little further just to force their hand a little bit and improve our negotiating position. If I could get a concession out of them, I could then negotiate their rates downward. "Okay, so you're at 100% renewable energy, right?"...I asked. "YEP! 100%, absolutely!"...they immediately fired back. "So, how much of this '100%' is carbon credits which you've purchased as offsets?"...I asked. (big pause) "Uhhhhhh, well, ummmmm, we could look into that for you if you'd like, I don't think we have an answer for that right off the top of my head" But I pushed harder..."Well, surely you must have a rough estimate, right? I mean you were awfully quick to answer '100%' as if you expected this question, I would expect you to be equally prepared to answer the logical follow up question. Just a rough estimate here is all I'm asking...20%, or 90%, or 50%? Give...me...an...answer!"
Well, after they started to get snippy and even more evasive about the answers to my questions, I then told them the negotiation was now on hold until they got me the exact answer, so take whatever time they needed. Turns out, the answer to my question was 100%. They just "bought" all of their carbon credits in the form of offsets so they could "claim" they were 100% renewable when exactly 0% of their energy came from renewable resources.
My interest in the discussion was to gain a position of strength in a negotiation, but I had an ulterior motive also. I fully wanted to embarrass my team member who asked the question and then smugly acknowledged their answer as completely satisfactory, and I wanted to illustrate how absolutely IDIOTIC this whole "climate change / carbon footprint" SCAM truly is. It's just that, a SCAM, a MONEY GAME, nothing more. I didn't give a flying f*** whether their renewable energy was 0% or 100%, but because this is such a strategic thing these days, it was a good opportunity to illustrate just how stupid all this "Noize" is in the world today!
I didn't just leave it there either. I then reached into the pocket of my sport coat and pulled out my phone with my airline ticket info on it which had brought me to Chicago, and put it down on the table. Right there, in black and white in bold letters, on my ticket it said what my "carbon footprint" was as a result of taking the flight that day. I pointed this out too, pretty grumpily at this point I might add.
FWIW...that little 'discussion' netted a 46% discount on the per square foot cost of a co-location facilities in Denver.
P.S. - On an even more ironic and even more twisted note, I had one of my junior engineers bring up their airline ticket info. You see, I'd come to Chicago that day in Business Class on the airline because of my mileage, he'd flown in Economy. My "carbon footprint" was 70% MORE than his...for the same gawd damned flight, on the same damn airplane! Why? Because I'd ridden in Business Class, and he'd flown in Economy...on the same damn airplane! It's all a SCAM, people; a complete SCAM!
Just the other day I was involved in a data center co-location negotiation. "Co-location" is the process of moving your IT data 'compute' and 'storage' assets to a data center which is used to host numerous companies assets all under one roof. Data centers are expensive (probably the most expensive kind of engineering and construction activities there are on a per square foot basis). Co-location amortizes this cost over a large number of users. In the negotiation I was involved in, the subject was how much "real estate" would be needed for our multi-petabyte hardware and applications.
At one point, one of the guys on our team asked a question about what percentage of their energy was from "green" renewable sources? The answer we got back was an instantaneous response of "100%!!!". I didn't really give a sh!t about the question, or their answer, personally, but the speed at which they replied with their answer was curious to say the least. Data centers are notoriously NOT "green" installations. In fact, they are about as opposite of 'green' as you can get. They have incredibly high watt per square foot utilization numbers, and they are dense with mechanical cooling and all sorts of other non-green stuff, like transformers and massive heat generating gear like racks and racks of high power servers, etc. Again, they are about as NON-GREEN as you can get. So, this company's instant response of "100%!!" was very curious indeed.
Being an engineer, I knew there was more to their answer than met the eye, despite the person who asked the question being completely satisfied with their response. So...I decided to explore their answer a little further just to force their hand a little bit and improve our negotiating position. If I could get a concession out of them, I could then negotiate their rates downward. "Okay, so you're at 100% renewable energy, right?"...I asked. "YEP! 100%, absolutely!"...they immediately fired back. "So, how much of this '100%' is carbon credits which you've purchased as offsets?"...I asked. (big pause) "Uhhhhhh, well, ummmmm, we could look into that for you if you'd like, I don't think we have an answer for that right off the top of my head" But I pushed harder..."Well, surely you must have a rough estimate, right? I mean you were awfully quick to answer '100%' as if you expected this question, I would expect you to be equally prepared to answer the logical follow up question. Just a rough estimate here is all I'm asking...20%, or 90%, or 50%? Give...me...an...answer!"
Well, after they started to get snippy and even more evasive about the answers to my questions, I then told them the negotiation was now on hold until they got me the exact answer, so take whatever time they needed. Turns out, the answer to my question was 100%. They just "bought" all of their carbon credits in the form of offsets so they could "claim" they were 100% renewable when exactly 0% of their energy came from renewable resources.
My interest in the discussion was to gain a position of strength in a negotiation, but I had an ulterior motive also. I fully wanted to embarrass my team member who asked the question and then smugly acknowledged their answer as completely satisfactory, and I wanted to illustrate how absolutely IDIOTIC this whole "climate change / carbon footprint" SCAM truly is. It's just that, a SCAM, a MONEY GAME, nothing more. I didn't give a flying f*** whether their renewable energy was 0% or 100%, but because this is such a strategic thing these days, it was a good opportunity to illustrate just how stupid all this "Noize" is in the world today!
I didn't just leave it there either. I then reached into the pocket of my sport coat and pulled out my phone with my airline ticket info on it which had brought me to Chicago, and put it down on the table. Right there, in black and white in bold letters, on my ticket it said what my "carbon footprint" was as a result of taking the flight that day. I pointed this out too, pretty grumpily at this point I might add.
FWIW...that little 'discussion' netted a 46% discount on the per square foot cost of a co-location facilities in Denver.
P.S. - On an even more ironic and even more twisted note, I had one of my junior engineers bring up their airline ticket info. You see, I'd come to Chicago that day in Business Class on the airline because of my mileage, he'd flown in Economy. My "carbon footprint" was 70% MORE than his...for the same gawd damned flight, on the same damn airplane! Why? Because I'd ridden in Business Class, and he'd flown in Economy...on the same damn airplane! It's all a SCAM, people; a complete SCAM!
