http://www.energyefficiencynews.com/articles/i/5218/?cid=3

eBay has announced plans to power the next phase of its flagship new data centre in Utah with Bloom Energy's renewable energy fuel cells.

The online auction website will use 30 Bloom Energy servers that run on biogas produced from organic waste to power its new Utah data centre.

The 6 MW installation fuel cell installation will generate 52.5 million kWh of electricity a year when it is fully functional next year, so that grid electricity will only be needed for back-up.

The Bloom Energy servers, which will be located just a few hundred yards from the centre itself to minimise grid losses, will power millions of transactions that generate more than $69 billion in merchandise volume annually for the 102 million active users

The existing data centre in Utah is already LEED-certified and has a 665 kW solar array on the roof.

eBay has a solar array and smaller Bloom Energy fuel cell installation at its San Jose headquarters in California and another solar array at its Denver data centre.

The company now sources an estimated 15% of its energy use for its data centres from renewable sources.

"By being a trail blazer and deploying a brand new, revolutionary architecture to build its new data center, eBay is raising the standard for the entire industry," says president and CEO of eBay, John Donahoe. "Running our data centers primarily on reliable, renewable energy, we intend to shape a future for commerce that is more environmentally sustainable at its core."

Data centres have come under increasing scrutiny in recent times because of their large and growing energy consumption.

High profile campaigns by green groups like Greenpeace and consumers have led to computer giant Apple install solar panels at US data centres and Facebook introduce a new renewable energy purchasing strategy.