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Sony Pictures Uses 'Green Power' For Data Center: Page 2 of 3

For Sony Pictures, the move to reusable power sources at the data center reflects the company's comprehensive green initiatives, said Sony Pictures Entertainment senior VP and CIO Rick Hopfer. Those other green efforts range from a project to solar-power a studio to recycling tons of electronic waste to transitioning to the digital distribution of films, which reduces the production, distribution, and disposal of mass quantities of film stock.

On the IT side, Sony Pictures, a subsidiary of Sony Corp. of America, also has deployed more energy-efficient servers, desktop, and laptop computers, and is starting to evaluate other energy-saving moves, such as server consolidation and virtualization, Hopfer said.

Green computing "is good for business and the environment," he said.

The reusable energy sources to power the data center also will make an impressive dent in Sony Picture's carbon footprint, he said. Over three years, Sony Pictures expects the Earthwise Energy program to reduce the company's carbon footprint by 19,710 tons, or the equivalent of removing 3,240 cars from the road, Hopfer said.

The program also will translate to cost savings over the next three years, he said, although he declined to estimate how much. The Salt River Project's reusable power sources will be less expensive than the electricity used to power Sony Picture's California facilities, said Hopfer: "Power in California is expensive."