E-commerce powerhouse eBay plans to reduce its 2012 greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent, when compared to its 2008 emissions. This news comes at the same time as eBay has donated some old servers to the University of Notre Dame, where the servers will assist in AIDS and cancer research.
Heat generated by the Notre Dame servers will be used to warm a greenhouse that is adjacent to where the servers are housed, according to a press release.
eBay will do most of its work in reducing emissions by improved data management and infrastructure. Next year, the company will begin using a "green" data center that will handle more than a third of its IT infrastructure. The site, in South Jordan, Utah, is being built to LEED Gold status.
Every two years, eBay does a tech refresh, where old servers are taken out of service and replaced with more efficient technology. Retired servers from this program are the source of the new computing power at Notre Dame.
In other news, eBay is installing a 100 kiloWatt solar module at its Denver offices. Additionally, the company plans to announce a fuel cell strategy early next year.
Earlier this year, eBay made public its “Green Team.” The eBay Green Team started in 2007 as 40 eBay employees. Now the number has swelled beyond 2,000 employees in 23 countries, said Meg Owen, a spokeswoman for eBay.
