Issue 01 · November 2026Verified factsLinked sourcesBilingual
Prisma
ESEN
About Prisma

How
we work

An informational, neutral, bilingual site. Here we explain how we choose sources, how we present pros and cons, and how we show figures.

Updated Nov 8, 2026

01Principles

1

Every figure, sourced

Every number links to the original document and the date we accessed it.

2

Measured ≠ projected

Estimates, projections and scenarios are always labeled; in charts, projections are hatched.

3

Neutral

We don't take sides. We examine ideas and data, not people. We don't give legal advice.

4

Nothing invented

If a figure can't be checked at its source, it isn't published.

5

Both sides

Each topic has a pros-and-cons section with the same number of points on each side.

6

Who says so

We say who publishes or commissions each study, for example when an industry group paid for it.

02How we build pros and cons

For each topic we gather the most-cited arguments for and against and place them side by side, with equal visual weight.

  • The same number of points in each column (six per side).
  • Each point: a short claim, one line of context, a figure and its source.
  • Pros come from those who make the case or measure the benefits (public agencies, economic studies, medical and scientific research). Cons come from those who study costs and impacts (labs, market monitors, child-protection groups, standards agencies).
  • Neutral wording, no loaded adjectives. Order does not indicate importance.
  • If an interested party commissioned a study, we say so in the same point.

This is what the format looks like:

Pros

  1. 1figure
    Short claim

    One line of context with the figure and who publishes it.

  2. 2source
    Verifiable source

    Each point carries a footnote linking to the original document.

Cons

  1. 1figure
    Same format

    Cons use the same structure, length and tone as pros.

  2. 2source
    Same rigor

    The same kind of source is required on both sides.

03How we choose sources

  1. Primary documentsLaws and official texts (e.g. congress.gov, the European Commission or the Government of California).
  2. Research institutionsRecognized agencies and labs such as the IEA, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory or Stanford HAI.
  3. Peer-reviewed journalsStudies published after review by other specialists.
  4. Local governments and market monitorsData from counties and the independent power market monitor (e.g. Loudoun County or PJM's monitor).
  5. Industry-commissioned studiesUsed only for the side they argue, and always saying who commissioned them (e.g. PwC for the Data Center Coalition).
  6. Specialist organizationsThink tanks and organizations with their own data (e.g. WRI or IWF), always marked “per” whom.

When an organization describes its own work (for example, an agency about itself), we mark it as “per” that organization. Citing a source does not mean endorsing it.

04Number format and languages

In Spanish we use a decimal point and comma separators (1.5 %, 65,765), as in Mexico and the US. Every page exists in full in Spanish and English.

We use no cookies, trackers or analytics. Fonts and images are served from this site.

05Image credits

  1. File:BalticServers data center.jpg (BalticServers.com, CC BY-SA 3.0)Wikimedia Commons · Accessed Nov 8, 2026
  2. File:CERN Server 03.jpg (Florian Hirzinger, CC BY-SA 3.0)Wikimedia Commons · Accessed Nov 8, 2026
  3. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0Creative Commons · Accessed Nov 8, 2026

Photos were resized and cropped for layout; they are shared under the same CC BY-SA 3.0 license. Charts and illustrations are original. Fonts: Fraunces and Inter Tight, SIL Open Font License 1.1.

06Corrections

If a figure changes at its source or we find an error, we correct it and update the page date.