Today, we have a marked interest in renewable energy and alternative means to power our homes, businesses, and data centers. Companies, like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and other hyperscalers, have launched initiatives to become carbon neutral within the next decade or two. Types of power generation in use today range from coal to solar, with many options in between. When a company says they are “going green,” sometimes it’s not actually clean green but rather a dirty green with a mix of offsets, renewables, coal, diesel, and actual green energy. Many renewables and other “green” energy have components that aren’t really green at all. In fact, if you could find the source of your electrons, you would find the results surprisingly dirty green!
People and companies (about 50% of us in the U.S.) have the option to purchase renewable electricity directly from power suppliers, but we all have the option of buying renewable energy certificates. Green certificates enable consumers to put money into the green supply even if they can’t consume that energy via subsidies. Some power companies have “green pricing,” which is a small premium used to facilitate energy purchases from “green” resources, as it is generally more expensive to generate electricity using renewables. But again, you can’t trace your electrons.