March 19, 2010

Kuwaitis Predict Peak Oil by 2014

Everyone knows that oil is a finite, non-renewable source of energy. Exactly how long oil will last is the subject of much debate -- how many more years will we have until the world runs out of oil? Most scientists believe the answer is "less than 100," meaning that for our younger readers, the end of oil may come some time in your children's lifetime. Perhaps more important than the "end of oil" concept, however, is the "peak oil" concept.

The peak oil concept has been around for a while now. Broadly, it describes a point in time when oil production in a particular place peaks, and after that date, oil production begins a decline as the oil field dries up. The United States had its peak oil decades ago, and has been importing oil ever since. Earlier this year, the U.K. Industry Taskforce for Peak Oil and Energy Security, headed by Richard Branson, predicted that peak oil will happen in 2015. Now, scientists at a Kuwaiti university have used statistical models to predict when global peak oil will happen. Using models from 42 oil-producing countries, the scientists believe world peak oil will take place in 2014, three years from now.

There is some controversy surrounding these numbers, with many oil producing nations (especially Saudi Arabia) claiming that peak oil production is not as important as peak demand. Nonetheless, peak oil deserves some attention. Basic economic theory holds that after peak oil takes place, the price of oil will rise dramatically until it is all gone. For countries that are heavily reliant on oil, this has huge implications for transportation infrastructure, politics, and economic competitiveness. The data center business isn't immune either. The data center business is heavily reliant on the cost of electricity, which in the United States is largely coal-based. How the price of electricity will be affected by peak oil hasn't been closely studied yet, but the geopolitical changes brought by peak oil will make data centers both more critical and more vulnerable to humankind at the same time.

Posted by tlau at 2:05 PM | Add Comment

March 17, 2010

Quiet Horse-Trading on Climate Change Bill Continues

With Washington absorbed with this week's health care showdown, there's little attention being paid to the progress of climate change legislation. As I've blogged about here before, however, it would be a mistake to assume that just because attention has been diverted that the Democrats have given up on climate change legislation. It would also be a mistake to assume that the climate bill will end up going down the same path as health care reform. The issue is in many ways less divisive, and more important, than health care, and has many more international wrinkles to consider. Throw in the Supreme Court's command to regulate greenhouse gas, and it's clear that Congress must act eventually to rein in carbon emissions.

Granted, there is a lot of sensitivity in Washington about public perceptions and Senators in particular are worried about how constituents interpret their stances on climate change. As long as that sensitivity remains, few will be willing to go on the record at this early stage about how they feel about specific items of progress. Nonetheless, as the majority party the Democrats are starting to quietly corral forces together to build a coalition around an upcoming climate bill, a process the White House remains optimistic about.

Just yesterday, former President Bill Clinton and Center for American Progress CEO John Podesta were guests at the Democrats' weekly Tuesday caucus luncheon, where climate change and energy policy were the topics of discussion. At the luncheon, Clinton urged Democrats to back Senator Kerry's efforts to negotiate bipartisan support for a climate bill to be announced probably next month.

Details on the bill remain unclear, but rumors are that it will be unprecedented in its attempts to gather support from both Democrats and Republicans. Elements include a 10 cent a gallon gasoline tax, eventually ramping up to 20 cents a gallon, a cap-and-trade provision on power producers, exempting manufacturers from any regulations, allowing an import tax on countries that don't rein in emissions, and access to off-shore oil drilling including in Alaska. The hope is that there's enough in the bill to attract broad support, while acknowledging that there are some provisions some Senators will just have to hold their noses and try to accept.

Stay tuned to this blog as the unveiling of the bill approaches -- it promises to be a key fight to pay attention to, and its impact on Green IT will no doubt become clearer once it's unveiled as well. In the meantime, I wish all our readers a very happy GREEN St. Patrick's Day!

Posted by tlau at 8:11 AM | Add Comment

March 15, 2010

Monday News Roundup

Monday News Roundup, March 15, 2010

• Data center operator Equinix has been granted LEED certification for its 2009 retrofit of its SV2 International Business Exchange facility in Silicon Valley.


• Binghamton University professors believe that just-in-time provisioning of IT resources and just-in-time cooling are the keys to achieving greater efficiency in data centers.


• Neuwing Energy Ventures, a provider of financially focused and environmentally responsible commercial energy strategies, announces that it has successfully registered the first voluntary Energy Efficiency Certificates (EECs) in the newly launched APX North American Renewables Registry.


• Major industry leaders in the European data center sector will meet at the sixth annual conference taking place in April in France. They plan to set the agenda on exploiting green technologies over the coming year.


• Ca Inc. announces three new partnerships for its expanding ecoSoftware business unit, including Global Green Consulting Group, Opto 22, and TrendPoint Systems. The software suite offers a comprehensive solution for sustainability management, carbon management, environmental assessments and operational energy management.


• VYCON, a designer and manufacturer of environmentally friendly, high-speed energy storage flywheel systems, announces that Network Products Guide has named its flywheel systems winners of their 2010 Product Innovation Awards within the power backup category.


• BDNA, which publishes the BDNA catalog consisting of information regarding Green IT, announces the addition of Amit Golan as vice president of products.


• APX Inc., the leading infrastructure provider for environmental and energy markets, announces that it has now extended its registry services to include both renewable energy and energy efficiency certificates for voluntary markets.


• According to a new survey sponsored by Persystent Software, 45% of employed adults in the U.S. who have a work computer are not conscientious about turning it off when they are not using it.


• WhipTail Tech, provider of SSD-based SAN appliances, announces it has signed an exclusive European distribution and support agreement with Consolidate IT to offer huge advantages to enterprises dealing with strict Green IT concerns.


• A national survey of over 100 senior IT professionals found that there are three factors driving demand in the UK data center market - security, power and price.


• Three venture capitalists will be judges for the Startup Launchpad, a contest to pick cool applications for leveraging IT against climate change run at Green:Net 2010.

Posted by tlau at 8:18 AM | Add Comment

China Goes into Attack Mode on Climate Change

In spite of being the world's largest greenhouse polluter in absolute terms, China likes to point out that given its massive population, its greenhouse gas emissions aren't anywhere near the U.S. when broken down on a per person basis. That's why when it came to making a commitment towards reducing carbon, China chose to go with a "carbon density" reduction rather than an overall reduction of carbon. This approach has been criticized by the U.S. as not doing enough to reverse the trend of ever increasing carbon emissions by China.

Last week, China struck back at the U.S. First, China's chief climate official, Xie Zhenhua, head of the Chinese delegation to the Copenhagen conference last year, issued a call for the U.S., as the world's most developed nation, to "do more" since its current commitments are "far short" of international treaty obligations and what developing countries demand. Specifically, he called on the U.S. to increase its commitment to providing financing and technology to fight climate change.

Then, towards the end of the week, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao gave a rare two-hour press conference at the end of a legislative session where he delivered a wide-ranging critique of U.S. trade and economic policy. Most of the media has focused on Wen's defense of currency policy and criticism of the U.S. handling of the economic recession, Wen also delivered some sharp remarks on climate change.

Wen used an old Chinese proverb, "my conscience is clear despite the slander of others," to defend allegations that he had snubbed President Obama at a sideline meeting at Copenhagen last year. He claims that he did not deliberately skip the meeting, but instead was not invited. "Why was China not notified of this meeting? So far no one has given us any explanation about it, and it is still a mystery," he told reporters. Instead of Wen, China sent a lower ranked official instead to the meeting, to protest China's lack of official invitation.

I think the WSJ got this story right by describing how it illustrates the "extreme sensitivity" among Chinese leaders about how China is viewed by the world. As a major economic player, China has much to contribute towards combating global warming, but it's unwilling to take on any international leadership role towards that effort. Criticism is a losing strategy too, as this episode sadly demonstrates.

Posted by tlau at 7:54 AM | Add Comment

March 11, 2010

Copenhagen Chief Quits, India and China Join in Accord

For reasons not officially announced, the U.N. official in charge of last year's Copenhagen climate change summit, Yvo de Boer, has quit to pursue a more lucrative career in academe and business consulting. The speculation surrounding his resignation is that he was extremely frustrated with the outcome of the Copenhagen summit, which by most accounts was a near total failure, with the only saving grace a non-binding protocol that "takes note" of global warming and an agreement by countries to register steps they intend to take to address the problem.

Most attendees at the conference had signed on to the protocol. After all, it's completely non-binding, only requiring nations to "take note" of it by signing, and requiring nations to submit their carbon reduction plans to a central repository, where it is neither analyzed, critiqued, or assessed for effectiveness or enforcement. Nonetheless, India and China, who played a critical role in slowing down the negotiations and ultimately may have succeeded in scuttling them, only agreed yesterday to even participate in the accord by "allowing" their names to be listed on it.

The European Union, which has been a major proponent of international standards for climate change to replace the Kyoto Protocols, welcomed the move while reiterating its support for a "robust and legally binding" agreement out of the successor summit on climate action in Mexico later this year.

In spite of the news that China and India have joined the nearly 200 countries in signing the accord, it's plain as daylight to just about everyone that the accord is meaningless without follow-up. Whether or not the Mexico convention can yield a more robust agreement to tackle carbon emissions, at this point, remains extremely doubtful.

Posted by tlau at 9:27 AM | Add Comment

March 9, 2010

Data Centers Flocking to Oregon

I've previously blogged about Facebook's new data center in Oregon and the subsequent backlash from Greenpeace about Facebook's decision to purchase electricity from a utility that largely relies on coal for its electricity generation. This morning, the esteemed Wall Street Journal ran a front page story on Facebook's data center, and a few interesting facts can be gleaned from the story.

Facebook is apparently not alone in selecting Oregon for data center operations. The social media networking giant joins Microsoft, Intuit, and Yahoo data centers in Quinn, a data center operated by Ask.com in Moses Lake, an Amazon.com data center in Boardman, and a Google data center in The Dalles. Apparently the combination of a cool and dry climate, critical to maximizing ambient air cooling technologies, is drawing more and more data centers to the state.

Interestingly, it's not the climate that draws these companies. Oregon is also apparently doling out some pretty sweet incentives for the companies to locate there. Facebook, for example (which only paid $3 million for the 124 acres of land), has an agreement with the state to be charged property tax on the unimproved value of the land for the next 15 years, about $25,000 a year. The data center is expected to cost around $175 million, so paying tax on only the unimproved value of the land will save millions. In fact, the WSJ points out that Facebook will save over $3 million a year in property taxes, or $45 million over the life of the tax abatement. That's a pretty awesome deal for Facebook.

What's curious about this article is what is not mentioned. The article hints that Oregon has "abundant supplies of hydropower" but doesn't mention the controversy surrounding the utility companies operating there or their higher-than-average reliance on coal rather than hydroenergy. There's no mention at all about Greenpeace's boycott. Finally, while the article mentions the job creation in glowing terms, certainly no one would argue that a data center (which by its nature is typically staffed by a skeleton crew of human beings) is ever going to replace the hundreds of thousands jobs lost in the logging and sawmill industries.

I'm pleased that Green IT made it to the front page of a major business daily. The more people become aware of the issues and challenges facing Green IT, the more likely it is that good law and policy can result. The WSJ does no one any favors, however, by sugarcoating the truth, misleading the facts, or by simply ignoring certain basic facts.

Posted by tlau at 10:15 AM | Add Comment

March 7, 2010

Monday News Roundup

Monday News Roundup, March 8 2010

• Organizers and researchers of the Sixth Data Centers Europe 2010 conference announce that APC by Schneider Electric will be demonstrating how to provide energy while addressing energy efficiency legislation.


• Altruent Systems, a systems integration company headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., that specializes in the consulting, design and installation of mission-critical infrastructure, announces that it has completed a new energy efficient data center for Sanford-based The Pantry Inc.


• Voonami Inc. unveils a computing facility claimed to be the greenest in Utah, using an evaporative cooler to trim energy costs by up to 80 percent compared to a typical data center.


• Voonami also announces its Virtual Desktop Service on the UTOPIA network, offering customers the green benefits of cloud computing on their desktop.


• Inphi Corporation, a high-speed analog semiconductor company, announces that its Isolation Memory Buffer component has been chosen by Embedded Computing Design magazine at its Editor's Choice award recipient in its Deep Green category for enabling high performance computing systems to operate at higher speeds with greater power efficiency.


• CoSentry completes installation of a high-efficiency, inherently redundant UPS, part of Eaton's Green Solution, at a Sioux Falls data center.


• Equinix Inc. announces that its SV2 International Business Exchange data center has earned LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.


• VYCON, a designer and manufacturer of environmentally friendly, high-speed energy storage flywheel systems, announces its participation in AFCOM's Data Center World conference in Tennessee.


• Affiliated Computer Services Inc. unveils a state-of-the-art flagship data center in London that could serve as an industry model by simultaneously cutting carbon emissions and reducing energy costs.

Posted by tlau at 3:56 AM | Add Comment

What if They're Wrong?

While traveling through Asia this week, I noticed an interesting TV commercial in my hotel room by NEC. The commercial features a boardroom scene with the CEO-type fretting about high IT energy costs, and one of his employees suggesting a movement to NEC energy efficient servers to save money. It's the first Green IT TV ad I've seen, and I suspect it's only the beginning as Green IT continues to grow and expand.

It's a little jarring, therefore, to read the Chicago Tribune's write-up this weekend about GOP politicians hammering the science of global warming. There's always been the Beckian/Palin wing of the party that's denied global warming, but now, even mainstream politicians have jumped on the bandwagon. Mario Rubio (running for FL's Senate seat against moderate Charlie Crist), Tim Pawlenty (one of the earliest to openly hint he's running for President in 2012), even John McCain -- all have spoken in the past about the need to restrict carbon emissions, but are now openly questioning whether global warming exists or whether it's caused by humanity.

The trend is clear -- it's cool to bash the science of global warming. The East Anglia University "Climategate" scandal didn't help, and neither did the UN's IPCC panel's admission that not its science has been up to usual rigor. There's some polling to indicate that the public is now more confused than ever, and that the number of people who doubt the science of climate change is growing. There's a concerted effort to fight back on this campaign, being waged by scientists and observers who insist the science of climate change is solid, to government agencies such as the UK's Met Office, which this week released a scientific paper arguing that the link of rising temperatures to human activity is even stronger than before.

Throughout this storm, I'm reminded of a little analytical exercise I read somewhere once, called "What if they're wrong?" In this case, the first question is "what if the scientists are wrong, and climate change is not happening?" Cap and trade restrictions can be expensive and disruptive to national economies, for sure. On the other hand, an economy less reliant on foreign oil and more developed on renewable energy may not be a bad thing even if the scientists are wrong. The second question is, "what if the climate change deniers are wrong" and the planet is warming leading to catastrophic climate change? Hmmm... it doesn't take much imagination to quickly realize which scenario is worse. Let's hope some clarity and level-headedness returns to this debate soon.

Posted by tlau at 3:40 AM | Add Comment

March 3, 2010

Groups Move Towards Data Center Efficiency Rating Standardization

Up until now, it's been quite a challenge to determine the veracity of claims by various companies about how green their data centers are. The recent Facebook flap, for example, where Facebook claimed it was building the world's greenest data center only to be publicly boycotted by Greenpeace, is a good example. Part of the problem has been a lack of agreement on how to measure a data center's green credentials. In the physical space where data centers are located, the US Green Building Council's LEED standards have made a difference in pushing the industry towards more efficient buildings. In terms of the efficiency of the operations within that space, however, there isn't a clear standard in the industry. Without that standard, the industry is essentially left to its own marketing devices to make whatever claims it likes.

That may soon be changing. A coalition of groups is now closely examining the issue of how to measure green feature in data centers, with the goal of establishing a common rating system. The system will utilize PUE, or Power Usage Effectiveness, as the measure. PUE compares total data center power versus IT power used, and the groups, which include the Green Grid and the EPA, are establishing metrics on how those measurement are to be taken.

The EPA is also leading an effort to establish an "Energy Star" rating for data centers. This has been in the works for over a year now, and the EPA hopes to launch the program this spring. The rating system will be based on PUE, although PUE won't be the only metric in the score. Data centers will be able to conduct self-ratings to earn a score of 0-100, and companies earning above 75 can request an audit to earn the Energy Star rating. The Green Grid has a similar rating system for calculating PUE, but the systems are slightly different in that the EPA system measures energy used. The EPA system does not take into account free cooling or redundancy but the EPA believes its system is still very accurate.

These are all good moves. They won't avoid the Facebook-style controversy since PUE doesn't consider whether the energy used by data center comes from renewable sources, but the raw amount of energy used and how efficiently it is used is something that must be measured if data centers are going to be kept honest about their green credentials. The PUE rating by Green Grid and the Energy Star by EPA will go a long way towards establishing some truth and transparency in the claims we are seeing today.

Posted by tlau at 7:48 PM | Add Comment

March 1, 2010

Monday News Roundup

Monday News Roundup, March 1, 2010

• A myriad of federal and state tax credits are available for Green IT projects related to data centers, and they don't all have to be new constructions to qualify.


• The EPA is finalizing its Energy Star program for data centers, allowing rating of energy efficiency in data centers, that it plans to launch in June this year.


• Numara Software facilitates the adoption of Green IT by enabling projects to obtain a more precise view of their current energy use and reconfiguring and deploying detailed solutions such as automatic hibernation and wake-up to recapture up to 40% of IT energy spending.


• Concert Technologies releases a podcast discussing its Concert Close program to provide the IT industry's first methodology to reduce truck rolls and travel time to customers requiring nationwide and international technology IT infrastructure deployment, reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions.


• Google has received permission to buy and sell electricity on wholesale energy markets, just like any other utility company.


• Atrato Inc announces that the U.S. Department of Energy has deployed sixteen Atrato Velocity1000 systems in its Golden Field Office to support implementation of its new virtualized data center, powered 100% by solar energy.


• Global computing and data center industry thought leaders and experts on enterprise computing's productivity, energy efficiency and eco-sustainability will be among featured speakers on topics relating to Green IT trends at the Uptime Institute's fifth annual Symposium this May in New York.


• Raritan announces that Gary Marks, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, has been a Channel Chief by Everything Channels' CRN for the second consecutive year for helping grow Raritan's new data center power management solutions.


• ServInt, a provider of managed web hosting for businesses worldwide, celebrated its 15th anniversary this month. The company employs multiple green methodologies to help customers operate with minimal environmental impact.


• amsung Electronics has begun mass producing the industry's first low-power four gigabit DDR devices, expected to bring significant power savings to data centers and server systems.


• Morphlabs Inc. announces it has received accreditation under the MSPAlliance's Vendor Accreditation Program. The MSPA member companies share common goals including achieving Green IT certifications.


• Wyse Technology announces the introduction of a $99 Zero Client to allow schools to optimize IT and financial resources while reducing carbon footprint.


• HP unveiled a host of new services aimed at helping small data-center operators boost performance and cut operating costs by becoming more energy efficient.


• Emerson's energy efficient Global Data Center in St. Louis has earned a LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council and a 2009 Beyond Green High Performance Building Award from the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council.

Posted by tlau at 6:00 AM | Add Comment