Iceland is putting itself forward to host the world’s data centres as its cold climate would drastically reduce the amount of energy needed to cool down servers.

The global computer industry accounts for about 2% of the world's carbon emissions, which puts it on par with the airline industy, according to a IDC survey. Most of the output is due to server farms and the energy needed to cool them.

A technology row is emerging over the definition of dynamically scalable and virtual servers, termed cloud computing.

Yesterday, Orcon announced the launch of a cloud computing service for small to medium businesses that it claimed was the first locally developed service in the country.