Four years ago, the Environmental Protection Agency released a doomsday-scenario forecast saying that the amount of electricity consumed by data centers in the U.S. would surge by 100% between the years 2005 and 2010.

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Data centers account for about 1.5% of total electricity consumption in the United States, according to a 2007 report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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While most people support the principles of environmental protection, few would want to go back to the 18th century, living without electricity, central heating, air travel and automobiles, all of which rely primarily on hydrocarbons to function.

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So heavy are the current energy demands of our expanding data usage that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has pegged servers and data centers as responsible for nearly two percent of total national electricity consumption.

FORBES: Written by Stanton D. Sloane