Right: Google purchases renewable energy from a wind farm nearby to run its data center at Council Bluffs, Iowa. Far right: Google salvaged an old paper mill and used the pre-existing infrastructure to build its data center in Hamina, Finland. The site sits on the Baltic Sea and uses raw sea water, piped through a pre-existing tunnel, to cool the servers naturally. Below: Plumes of steam rise above cooling towers at The Dalles, Oregon, Google data center. Visible water vapor means that humidity and temperatures are low, and that the cooling towers are at their most efficient. Below right: At The Dalles Google data center, Mike Barham swaps out a motherboard. When server parts break, Google first tries to repair them. If it can’t, it breaks them up into raw materials (steel, plastic, copper, etc.) and recycles the components.
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