Understanding Energy Use

During a webinar yesterday one of the presenters said "Data centers are using as much energy as the total of the airline industry is using energy per year". Oh my goodness. If this is sure and if a statement is true heard on another webinar that the smaller the chip the more energy is used my question is this: Where are we going with technology and when will this consumption stop? Power grids are not without limitations. This resource is not renewable from natural resources. Ok, so you are thinking this should be on the Green Chatter blog? Well maybe so but the thought is also about technology, not just Green. The two topics are aligned, closely aligned.