April 2008 Archives
Space? Let's try fixing our problems down here. That's the goal of a clean fuels X Prize with $100 million up for grabs.
X Prize: $100 Million for Clean Fuels - BusinessWeek
The X Prize Foundation made its name handing out $10 million awards for cutting-edge innovation in promising but thinly financed fields of research. But now the Santa Monica (Calif.) foundation is targeting one of the most-crowded contests in technology: the race to discover clean alternatives to fossil fuels.In its richest and largest competition yet, the foundation will divvy up some $100 million for transformations in biofuels, clean aviation fuel, energy storage, the provision of basic utilities for developing nations, and other categories.
Sony Pictures Uses 'Green Power' For Data Center - InformationWeek
Sony Pictures Entertainment is the first customer of data center operator 365 Main to sign up for a new reusable energy program that's being offered to clients of 365 Main's facility in Chandler, Ariz., via electrical utility company Salt River Project.Through the Salt River Project's Earthwise Energy program, clients of 365 Main's data center in Chandler, like Sony Pictures, can sign up to power their computer center with "clean" energy sources, including sun, wind, the Earth's heat, flowing water, and decomposing trash from landfills.
Go Vote in Dell's Green Computing Design Competition - WorldChanging
One thing that did impress me, though, was the variety of entries. There weren't just laptops and desktops, there were kiosks, toys, systems, even business plans. It would be great if all contests attracted and appreciated this level of variety (especially in green design, where a business plan for a product service-system can be much greener than a simple product.) Dell was wise to select five winners on equal footing, and in fact, I think the contest could have been left there. But the public portion of the contest is also useful, to see what concepts are most attractive to the market (and thus most likely to be successful if implemented), and to spur more public awareness and debate of green computing.
E-waste...how to reycle or reuse it - Green Business Alliance
If your company has many phones to dispose of, investigate options like ReCellular which will purchase your old cell phones, (with pre-paid postage for over 50 phones) or connect you to charitable programs such as Cell Phones for Soldiers. I read earlier today that the amount of copper wire contained in cell phones disposed of each year could cover the Statue of Liberty, twice over. That’s a lot of copper!
iPhone: Greener Gadget Yes or No? - Treehugger
Recently I wrote a post entitled NYC Bicycle Shelter Parking iPhone Photos: How Street It Is wherein I put up some snaps I grabbed on the fly using said technology. The comments, excerpted below, found my mention of the iPhone by turns "ridiculous," "pretentious," and "lame." So why on (protect the) earth would I even include the word iPhone? Could it be because it is a greener gadget?
Bigger, faster, better... That's usually how things go at Interop.
But let's pause for a moment. It's good advice for people when things get heated, and now, it may prove good advice for energy efficient networking. Sean Michael Kerner at InternetNews writes about efforts to use Ethernet's "pause cycle" to save on electricity.
As part of a student white paper challenge sponsored by the Ethernet Alliance, University of South Florida student Francisco Blanquicet came up with the concept of using the pause cycle in Ethernet to turn data flow on and off, thereby saving power."Originally, pause flow control was set up to prevent switches from swamping end nodes," Booth said. "If you have a server or a desktop and it can't handle the amount of data coming into it, Ethernet can pause the flow. When that standard was written people started using it, but then found it didn't work with certain types of traffic very effectively."
Booth described the pause flow control approach for reducing power as an interesting use of an existing technology. Since pause flow control is already part of the Ethernet standard, it can be readily implemented by vendors.
Using what's already there... how practical.
Four universities are getting a slice of a half a million dollar pie to pursue sustainable computing, and by extent, greener data centers. Those universities are the University of Tennessee, Stanford, Harvard and the University of Oklahoma. According to Earth2Tech, they'll each have a unique area of study like:
Control-Theoretic Power and Performance Management for Green Data Centers; Xiaorui Wang, University of Tennessee. Flipping computing priorities around, this project makes energy the top priority and adjusts hardware and software performance according to power constraints. The system’s power/performance state is optimized with no regard for application-level performance, meaning an operator can’t simultaneously guarantee application performance and power consumption. To deal with this, the project is creating multi-input-multi-output algorithms to create an energy and performance management system.
A good effort. Let's hope it bears fruit.
Certainly not if you're the RIAA. But the technical reasons may have some merit...
Is Bittorrent a green technology? - The Green Lounge
Check out this interview with Bittorrent CTO Eric Klinker from Beet.tv. The interview was supposed to be about Bittorrent’s cooperation with Comcast but, as the interview was recorded on Earth Day, the interviewer asked about the environmental impact of P2P.
'Green' technology can't save us from ourselves - Silicon.com
Speaking at Gartner's Enterprise Networking & Communications Summit, London-based media company Pearson - which has been using a telepresence system since 2001 - explained that, yes, videoconferencing has allowed its senior execs to reduce trips to their New York office. But this has then freed them up to travel more strategically - to places such as Asia - in order to expand the business. So Pearson's air miles have at best stayed the same.
NetApp Honored for its Greener Data Centers - TMC
NetApp not only changed their cooling methods but the design and implementation of the data center too was modified to enhance efficiency and reduce power consumption. NetApp merged its storage systems and replaced 50 systems with 10 NetApp storage systems, increasing capacity utilization to more than 60 percent. The numbers of racks were optimally minimized and required chilled water was cut down to 94 tons, which helped reduce electricity by 494,208 kWh and led to an annual savings of $59,305.
Far-Out Green Gadgets - MSN/PC World (Slideshow)
Many devices are billed as helping to reduce the user's carbon footprint and, of course, most of these items are available on the Internet. Some are undeniably strange but others represent well-considered concepts for pushing the environmental envelope.
Urban miners look for precious metals in cell phones - Reuters
A tonne of ore from a gold mine produces just 5 grams (0.18 ounce) of gold on average, whereas a tonne of discarded mobile phones can yield 150 grams (5.3 ounce) or more, according to a study by Yokohama Metal Co Ltd, another recycling firm.The same volume of discarded mobile phones also contains around 100 kg (220 lb) of copper and 3 kg (6.6 lb) of silver, among other metals.
In the face of skyrocketing food prices, a huge debate is raging over biofuels. A couple of related items caught my interest.
First, the European Commission is being assailed by the likes of Venezuela (an oil exporting nation, BTW) over its goals to wean its transport industries from crude-derived fuels and onto alternatives. But will they budge?
So far, they're not giving in.
You've undoubtedly have heard about how ethanol production is diverting corn in the US, raising the price on, well, just about everything since it's used for feedstock and dozens of other uses. Not a good idea, obviously. And we don't want other nations to raze air-cleaning forests to grow more corn and other resource-intensive crops.
Yup, a regular Catch-22.
But are biofuels really to blame for this so-called food crisis? Some are starting question the the role of the financial markets, particularly hedge funds. And you thought oil and mortgage backed securities were scary...
Virtualization is all the rage. After all, the benefits are plain as day to see. Or are they?
Amy Newman over at ServerWatch (that's her on the right) has a great column dedicated solely to virtualization called Virtually Speaking, which is part of the site's VirtualizationWatch coverage. This week's piece is on measurement tools. As IT dollars tighten, consolidation projects can easily become a prove it or lose it proposition.
In it she discusses a couple, namely Symphoniq's Trueview and CiRBA's software. And from the looks of it, they can definitely help prove it...
CIOs love to quantify, especially when times are lean. As the measurement tools well-suited to virtualization grow in number and capability — and they already are beginning to — it will get increasingly easier to sell top management on the attendant costs of going virtual.Another quantifiable perspective from the bigger picture to think about: Today, you've no doubt heard, is Earth Day. Media-hype has made environmental awareness cool. There's no shame in joining the chorus of "going green" and data centers are part of the march, but for reasons that are more practical than altruistic: Power and cooling are no longer commodity expenses. They are expensive, and aren't going to get any cheaper.
Sonic.net, an independent ISP out of Santa Rosa, CA has just been awarded certification from the Sonoma Green Business Program. And they can thank a new data center cooling system, or chiller plant.
Sonic.net CEO Dane Jasper explains on his blog:
We have replaced our traditional Liebert data center AC units with a huge new system from Bell Products of Napa. Bell’s been working on this project for over a year for us, and it’s a massive update. The new system adds a huge amount of capacity, and reduces power usage by a shocking amount.
In an earlier post, he discusses some of the economic benefits.
The largest of these is a change from our Liebert datacenter AC systems over to a new chiller plant from Bell Products of Napa. This project, a $600,000 investment, will result in large energy savings. Because of it's efficiency, and the fact that we're retiring the far less efficient Liebert equipment, this project has been approved by PG&E for a rebate of about $110,000. That’s great news for the environment!
Yes it is. More efficient cooling is just one way to green up that data center, and as you can see, there are incentives that can help ease the transition.
Thanks Alex!
OK, this is the last one, I promise.
Mark Hinkle at the Linux Today Blog has some neat ways to use open source for your favorite cause (and mine): Green IT!
One example:
Use OSS Monitoring Software to Shutdown Idle Equipment--You would be surprised how many under or un-utilized pieces of equipment are left on for extended periods of time. You could use OSS software like Zenoss Core to discover devices on your network and use the auto-remediation feature to turn off servers, desktops and other equipment after being idle for a number of hours or days.
Here's the Zenoss Core page on SourceForge. Click here for the rest of the tips.
Funny, I thought Web 2.0 servers were like any other run of the mill server. But today IBM schooled me in the difference.
During the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, they unveiled System x iDataPlex, a watercooled server platform that runs at room temperature. Even without the watercooling option, it still runs 20 percent cooler than conventional "white box" servers, according to the company.
Kenneth Corbin over at InternetNews reports:
The iDataPlex is IBM's first significant foray into servers marketed specifically for Internet companies whose businesses are built around online advertising, rich-media content and data-intensive applications....But IBM claims that existing Web 2.0 server offerings are little more than souped-up "white boxes," a term that reflects everyday workstations with few special features. IBM claims that iDataPlex servers can boost computing power by a factor of five, while cutting energy costs by as much as 40 percent. Meantime, the form factor of the design enables twice as many servers to run on a rack. With traditional servers measuring around 30 inches in length, iDataPlex servers measure just 15 inches, an IBM spokeswoman told InternetNews.com.
On the penny-pinching front, iDataPlex "uses all industry standard components as well as open source software such as Linux to help lower costs." Some of that open source software includes xCat.
Sadly, no word on pricing yet. But the machines should start rolling out in June in North America.
For a YouTube video from IBM that explains the platform's green cred, click continue...
Ignore the keyboard, mouse and Vista-rific monitor. See that on the right? That's Dell's computer-rendered vision of its next-gen PC.
It's compact and has style, there's no arguing that. And according to Gizmodo, it will be "81% smaller than a mini tower and 70% less energy-consuming." But will it play Crysis?
No word on when you'll be able to order one at Dell.com, because for now, it's just some fancy pixels.
Update: Earth2Tech has pics of a familiar little machine but draped in bamboo. They peg the cost at somewhere in the $500 - $700 range and availability at sometime this year.
Now you've really got my attention! Are you listening Dell?
I missed this yesterday, so I'm squeezing it in as the last Earth Day 2008 post. Shh! Pretend it's still Earth Day...
As an IT manager, you might not be quite ready to plop solar panels onto the roof your data center. No worries, there are still plenty of other ways to green up your IT department. Our friends at CIO Update have compiled a page with some of their most popular green technology themed articles.
My favorites:
The Green CIO
Enjoy.
Nokia sent me some interesting stats on cell phone charging. It's amazing to see how such a little device can have a big environmental impact.
Two-thirds of the energy consumed by a mobile phone during its usage is lost when the phone is fully charged and unplugged but the charger is left connected to the outlet. Unplug your mobile phone charger from the outlet when the phone has been charged, and unplug similar chargers that are not in use. If the phone is not in service but warm to the touch, it is using energy.If only 10% of the world's mobile phone users unplugged their chargers from the power supply once the battery is full, we could save enough energy to power 65,000 homes a year.
The company is tackling this with the first mobile phone that will alert/nag you to unplug the charger when it's fully charged.
The folks over at 1E, the NightWatchman software people, sent over some interesting stats from their and the Alliance to Save Energy's 2007 PC Energy Report (PDF) compiled by Harris Interactive.
Though 1E's software can remotely and automatically shut down PCs (it saves docs, closes apps, don't worry), the company is nonetheless asking US workers to turn their systems off for Earth Day when they go home today. If everyone participated, the United States would:
- Prevent the release of 39,452 tons of CO2 emissions
- Save $4.7 million in utility costs
- Reduce energy consumption by 54.3 million kWh
Earth 911 brings us these sobering e-waste stats:
Computers: In 2005, the National Safety Council estimated that 63 million computers became obsolete. It is estimated as of 2007 these stored computers will amount to about 500 million computers.Cellular phones: As of 2005, estimates indicate that over 130 million phones are disposed of every year. Many consumers store old cell phones because they are unsure of how to discard them.
Batteries: Batteries are made with toxic substances that must be recycled to avoid land and ground water contamination. According to the U.S. EPA, despite the fact that batteries make up less than
1% of municipal solid waste, they are responsible for a large portion of toxic heavy metals found there.
You can help change that by visiting Earth 911 and getting informed about electronics recycling.
As is becoming custom, major sites tweak their logos or site designs to celebrate Earth Day.Google does an excellent job, as always, at rolling out a stylized logo. When clicked on, it goes to an Earth Day search results page. Simple!
This Google Blog post details the latest steps the company is taking to help green up the environment. It's a little heavy on the Google webapps and such, but there it is.
Yahoo's logo transforms before your very eyes in a neat little animation. Click on it, and you're taken to the Yahoo! Green microsite. There, you'll run into their Free is Good promotion, a contest that promotes reuse groups like Freecycle, but on Yahoo's own network. One of the prizes is a Smart car.
MSN is a little more low-key, opting to skin their site in green tones. On the other hand, their green microsite is loaded with goods. Highlights include:
Encarta's Earth Day Page
Earth Day in the USA
"The Living Sea" Documentary Free Download
AOL's logo points to Green Daily. Some of the notable articles there are:
This or That: Black websites or white ones?
5 ways to start going green, if you haven't already
10 Green Gadgets You'll Love
6 Items You Didn't Know You Could Recycle
As you can see, there's no shortage of Earth Day content, and that's just at the major sites and portals. One interesting thing I've noticed this year is that the online community seems to have mellowed from the "Inconvenient Truth" hysteria, and instead, their starting to mobilize using the 'net.
And that's progress.
Update: Digg has joined in with a tasteful little box that encourages its users to participate in their Environment category.
We've covered Dell's green initiatives in the past, but one that escaped me is this cool site they cooked up. ReGeneration.org has a lot of neat, eye-catching touches, but it seems to be doing a surprisingly good job of engaging the community.
Besides the "wall" where you can post your green thoughts (I did, you'll have to find it yourself though) they also managed to attract over 3,800 Facebook Grafitti entries. Voting takes place tomorrow.
And OK, you might not be artistically inclined. No worries, there are tons of blog entries to keep you busy, like today's tips for going green on Earth Day (and everyday).
Bookmarked. Thanks Mike!
You know Flock, that Mozilla-powered social browser? Yeah, I sorta stuck with Firefox too.
But tomorrow, Flock will be debuting an Eco-Edition. The free software lets green-minded folks obsessively but effortlessly cull the latest environmental news and opinion without being a slave to your RSS feeds. The upside is that it puts all that green goodness upfront and center, plus 10 percent of all search monies collected by Flock will go towards an environmental charity that's selected by a community vote. Neat!
The downside, well there is none really, unless you somehow neglect to bookmark our site.
Be sure to check back with Flock tomorrow to get your hands on it.
[via Treehugger]
Earth Day falls on Tuesday, April 22 this year and we'll be following a lot of the goings on.
For starters, Wikipedia is a good place to visit for a primer. The EPA also has a nice little resource site.
The New York Times is dedicating its Sunday Magazine to green issues (it's 'Invent' section is of particular interest to geeks). The Washington Post has advice from some notables.
And last year, we had a couple of posts (here, here, here, here and here). We'll have more this year, so check back. If you see something that deserves some attention, especially tech related, leave a comment!
Update: This AP report on Wired informs us that 18 states aren't taking climate change sitting down. Go NY/NJ!
President Bush this week gave a climate change speech that set goals for curbing emissions. But now that he's at the twilight of his presidency, is it too little too late?
Bush outlines goals to fight climate change - CNN
Bush said his administration's support of increased fuel-economy standards and alternative fuel research is "a solid foundation for further progress."The next step, he said, would be to halt the growth of power industry emissions within 10 to 15 years -- steps he said depend on encouraging new technologies.
"The strategy I have laid out today shows faith in the ingenuity and enterprise of the American people -- and that's a resource that will never run out," he said.
Putting a price on the green IT services opportunity - Channel Marketer
First, the bottom line: Forrester believes that overall services related to helping companies rationalize the energy efficiency and sustainability profile of their technology will peak at $4.8 billion in 2013, with roughly half of that spending coming from European businesses. (The services revenue for this year is expected to be around $500 million.) Much like the Y2K wave, green tech services will begin to taper off after this point as the practices become more a standard part of running an IT infrastructure, Forrester concludes.5 tips for picking green desktop gear - InfoWorld
Embrace energy efficiency. Once you know your needs, try to find a PC or laptop that meets those requirements as well as Energy Star 4.0. That way, you'll know it's got an 80-percent efficient power supply and knows how to make the most of low-power modes. (There's also an Energy Star specification for monitors, which is more dated but still useful.)Energy efficiency can shave a chunk of money from your annual utility bills, plus reduce your carbon footprint. Energy Star-compliant systems are easy to find, be it through the Energy Star Web site or your preferred computer vendor.
Datamonitor: Enterprises, Vendors Paying More Attention to Green Technology - TMCnet
Datamonitor reported an increase in CIO interest and vendor initiatives related to green technology. With the presence of advanced technologies and tighter regulatory measures , business interest in green technology is growing. Seventy-five percent of respondent firms consideredeco ( News - Alert)-friendly computing an important part of their IT strategies. For 15 percent of respondents, green technology remained a top priority, and 20 percent have already incorporated green tech solutions as part of their business strategies.Going for the green at Harvard - Harvard Gazette
The Department of Physics, in Jefferson Hall and Lyman Hall, earned honorable mention by attaining an impressive 22.39 percent reduction in energy use. The department placed energy-efficient hand dryers in four bathrooms — with hopes of installing more next year, according to building manager Stuart McNeil — and outfitted some labs and hallways with LED spotlights, which can last up to 50,000 hours, equivalent to 24 years of operation at eight hours per day, five days a week. McNeil says the LED lightbulbs will also soon be installed in more labs and classrooms.
Did you know high performance computing is an $11 billion market? News to me too!Supermicro, a server builder for the HPC market, wants to grab a bigger slice of said market with a new blade that the company says sets a new record for plowing through LINPACK. Now that the cost of power is creeping higher on the list of concerns for datacenter operators, they may be onto something...
San Jose,CA-based Supermicro, Inc. today announced x86 blade servers that achieve new levels of performance under tight power requirements. According to the company, its Intel Xeon-powered SuperBlade SBI-7425C blade server can plow through the LINPACK benchmark with a score of 290 GFLOPS per kW.290 GFLOPS doesn't sound too outrageous until you consider that 200 GFLOPS per kW on an x86 system was the performance ceiling not too long ago. So being the first to reach that record is a nice feather in their hat.
As you've undoubtedly gathered by Alex Goldman's coverage of Freedom to Connect this year (here, here and here), green was a definite theme. And in keeping with the spirit of the conference, founder David Isenberg not only called on movers, shakers and even average netizens like us to do our part to cut carbon emissions, but also employ an open internet as a platform for societal change.
So I believe—and I put this forward as a hypothesis—I believe that we can use the Internet to conserve more atmospheric carbon than its infrastructure generates. Furthermore, I believe we can use the Internet for global participation that transcends tribalism and nationalism to end war . . . for discussion!
Be sure to read the rest. He doesn't mice words.
There's a new green website in town, one with a flair for the local. Sure, big sweeping movements are inspiring and all, but they'll quickly stall without local support. You know exactly what I mean. Let's say you want to recycle your old electronics or get in touch with eco-groups. Instead, you end up with Google fatigue, lost in a jungle of 1990's era government websites.
GenGreen.org is out to change that. Here's their mission:
The goal of GenGreen is to "mainstream green" for all by providing easy access to the resources that make sustainable living easier for everyone on a local level. This is accomplished in a variety of ways from our extensive online network and public events that encourage connection, growth and education through communication, to our online marketplace where people can find the eco-friendly products and services they need to support their sustainable lifestyles.
So far they have a handy local resource guide. Just pop in your state and you're served up your state's homepage, which carries links to recycling centers, cooperatives, green businesses, jobs and connections to other green-minded folks. There's also a handy events box, just in time to get out and enjoy the spring weather.
The site's Green Marketplace is set to go live soon, so that's also something to keep an eye on. Pay them a visit, get to know the site's team and see what's going on in your neck of the woods.
Thanks Dan!
Where are IT Managers and CIOs to go for green gear? They can visit our Enterprise IT Planet Product Guide (shameless plug) where slowly, but surely, vendors are releasing greener wares.Take the subject of our inaugral Green IT Product Watch post, Lifsoft, Inc's Auto Poweron & Shutdown. Though they company didn't explicitly present their software as a green solution, the power management benefits are immediately apparent.
Auto PowerOn & ShutDown is an application that allows you to control your computer resume from power-off state (hibernation) or wake up your computer from sleep mode (stand by).
Resume from power-off state allows you to control your computer auto start up and work in an appointed time. It can wake your computer at a specified date/time, even if the system has been closed in hibernation.
Perfect for workstations that are subject to set schedules. Plus, automation tools allow systems to greet your workers with their set of apps and websites ready to go so that they can hit the ground running after they fetch their morning coffee.
According to the company's website, it's been pretty well received by software sites, which should ease your mind if you've never heard of them before. Visit eITplanet for a product brief and more info.
Biofuels, wind, wave power...All noble pursuits, but advances in coverting the Sun's bountiful rays into cost-effective electricity is attracting attention and investment. This Salon piece explores concentrated solar power, and how the technology allows for clean power generation at a fraction of the expense of other schemes like nuclear power. Better yet, CSP plants can be built and ready to produce electricity in a couple of years.
Strangely, this new-fangled way of producing power really isn't really all that new...
Back around 700 B.C., the Chinese first used "burning mirrors" to ignite firewood. In 230 B.C., a colleague of Archimedes built a parabolic mirror, which focuses the sun's rays to a single point, also better for starting fires. Around 212 B.C., Archimedes supposedly had Greek soldiers use their bronze shields to concentrate the sunlight on Roman ships and set them on fire.
In the 15th century, the Italians used burning mirrors to solder copper sections of the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral. Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks contain many designs for solar concentrators, including some for industrial purposes, because he worried about the destruction of the earth's vast forests in humanity's search for fuel.
Figures.
Read the rest of the article for more of this history lesson; learn where the technology stands today; and catch an interesting look at how companies like Palo Alto-based Ausra are paving the way for a solar-powered, zero-emissions future.
Power Management on Linux, Part 1 - Datamation
The Linux kernel itself used to be a restless critter than never truly rested, but had timer interrupt rates of 100 to 1000 Hz. This meant that 100 to 1000 times per second the kernel would look around for something to do. Lower Hz means less overhead, higher Hz means less latency. This changed with the release of the 2.6.21 kernel, also called the tickless kernel. When the tickless kernel is in idle mode, it's really being idle and therefore not twitching in a bored fashion, uselessly consuming power and generating heat.Storage Users See Green in 'Green' IT - Enterprise Storage Forum
"It's all about energy, power and pooling resources," SW Worth, senior standards program manager at Microsoft, told his session audience. It's not about focusing on the environmental aspect of green IT, but the financial and operational aspects, he said.At Freedom to Connect, Isenberg Asks Tech Industry to Save the World - ISP Planet
While storage gurus highlighted how specific tools, such as virtualization, can help drive efficiency and save storage costs, they also stressed that going 'green' means working with business leaders outside of the IT realm.
Isenberg likes the people who make up the technology industry and knows most of the important ones, but at the conference, he pointed out that an epic global disaster is a possible outcome, and asked us all to work together to avoid it.Sun's Grab Bag of Greener Datacenter Solutions - InternetNews
Live From SNW: The SSD Has Arrived - InternetNews: The BlogOne overlooked item is the well-established raised floor that serves as the base of many datacenter operations. "It turns out these are very expensive, costing several millions of dollars and people don't keep track of what's happening underneath," said Bapat.
He's looked himself and it's often not pretty. In addition to fast food boxes and other trash, Bapat said the jumble of cables and conduits are often laid out at different angles that can impede airflow. "It's very inefficient," he said.
"Last year I was the only one talking on SSD, this year there were three presentations," Hutsell told InternetNews.com. "And given this is the last day of the conference the attendance was amazing."
ISP Planet's Alex Goldman, attended this year's Freedom to Connect (F2C) conference. Here's his coverage of second Carbon Negative Internet session.
Click here for Part 1 and Part 2.
F2C: Back to Reality
by Alex Goldman
At the Freedom to Connect conference, the new companies were more pessimistic about our chances of survival than were the representatives of Cisco, BT, and Verizon.
First to the podium was Robin Chase, founder of Zipcar. Like the representative from Verizon, she would argue that using her company's services saves the environment, but her argument was far more credible. She started by saying that the environmental situation is more dire than we usually admit. She said that politicians and presidential candidates promise change by 2020 or 2050, and noted that on January 21, 2009 the U.S. will initiate a cap and trade system for carbon trading. It may be too late.
She related how Jim Hansen (the climate change scientist that NASA tried to silence) told her that if emissions peak in 2015, we will have a 50 percent chance of averting catastrophe, but that if they peak in 2018, we will have a zero percent chance of averting catastrophe.
"Cap and trade will do nothing in that time frame. I would like to see a carbon tax. That really changes behavior."
Chase said that 20 percent of carbon dioxide emissions come from the use of cars, and an additional 9 percent from making them, but that Americans refuse to change the way they use cars.
"Why do people want to talk about light bulbs? It drives me out of my mind! The residential utility bill is 17 percent of emissions, and lighting is about 13 percent of that."
With Zipcar, people can use cars selectively and appropriately -- using a smaller car when they don't need a larger one, for example.
Another company Chase founded is GoLoco, a website that helps people share transportation. This, too, she says helps reduce the cost of travel and its carbon footprint.
Next up to the podium was famed green blogger Bill St. Arnaud, of the Green Broadband blog. The project St. Arnaud is working on is Canada's advanced network, CANARIE. He advocated powering the internet of the U.S. with renewable energy in Canada, a proposal that drew some skeptical responses from his primarily U.S. audience.
"Incremental changes are not enough. A major crisis is due. We need substantial changes now," he warned.
He said that the standard server of today is roughly equivalent in annual energy use to an SUV.
"By 2010, half of data centers will have to relocate or outsource. By the end of 2008, 50 percent of all U.S. data centers will have insufficient power and cooling."
Action is possible, he said. "We have got to reduce our own carbon footprint. I believe that we can make it close to zero. Secondly, we need to use the internet, with applications and services, to promote or induce our customers to reduce their footprint."
He then went on to post a red letter warning: BUT BEWARE OF TELCOS BEARING ENVIRONMENTAL GIFTS.
First of all, he warned of Jevon's Paradox, which says that increased efficiency reduces cost and thereby increases demand. Telcos are asking for subsidies to build big monopoly broadband networks, but they will deliver efficiency, not environmentalism. "You'll soon see a big push in all sectors to make government put a lot of money into broadband."
Renewable power, he said, is not practical for most industries, but is suited to the internet. "Data centers can be moved to remote locations where renewable power such as hydro and wind remains untapped."
Brad Templeton posted the following joke to the back channel, Canadians for Global Warming. It's a mixture of two photos, one from a Canadian island south of Toronto, and the other from Hanalai in Kaui'i, Hawaii.
One poster in the back channel complained, "so far, the only speaker who has told me anything that ordinary people can do about global warming was Robin."
Back on stage, St. Arnaud said that other green initiatives will fail:
- Sin taxes simply go to the coffers of government and fail to address the problems they tax, much like the tobacco settlement
- Carbon offsets have potential but the market is harmed by shady players
- Carbon rewards for good behavior would be more effective than carbon taxes
Finally, he posted more red letters, saying that it's unlikely that the triple play or quadruple play will underwrite fibre deployment EVEN WITH STRUCTURAL SEPARATION. He said that it is possible to provide a free Gbps strand to each home if you bundle the fiber bill with gas and electric. "If you reduce your utility bill, you get fiber for free."
David Isenberg concluded, "Even if we have already lost, we're here because we have to keep fighting. We believe we have to change the government, stop stupid wars."
Energy efficient computer systems and components are generally regarded as a good step to toward environmentally sound IT operations. But isn't it a bit disingenuous to label it green if that gear is packed with materials that are ecologically dangerous?
That's just one of issues equipment makers, and now, CIO's, are grappling with. You'll be happy to know that some firms like Fujitsu are already changing the way they manufacture computers. The result, according to Tech News World, is a new, earth-friendlier line of PCs.
Some green computing missionaries have evangelized about helping the environment with safer materials. Fujitsu Latest News about Fujitsu is one example. The computer maker developed a corn computer line in Japan.
As part of its corn initiative, Fujitsu engineers took a soup-to-nuts approach to finding more environmentally safe products to make computer parts. A major focus of their research focused on corn oil and other corn-based polymers. The research included efforts with using castor beans and other alloy starches. Other materials are not biodegradable.
"Those efforts three years ago produced a computer system made from 100 percent non-petroleum content. Corn-based polymers are readily available in Japan but not in the U.S. So economically, we are not able to introduce that green line in the U.S.," Richard McCormack, senior vice president of marketing at Fujitsu Computer Systems, told TechNewsWorld.
"Corny" computers, clever!
Shades of green - Government Computer News
“What’s happening is the electric bill ends up on the chief financial officer’s or chief executive officer’s desk and they say: ‘Holy mackerel! We’re spending $18 million a month on electricity.
Who’s the big user? Who’s using all this electricity?’ ” said Robert Rosen, chief information officer at the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases and former president of Share, an IBM users’ group.
HP citizenship report: green or greenwash? - SmartPlanet.com
Some vendors may be ahead of HP in reducing harmful chemicals or monitoring the working conditions of subcontractors, but we do respect HP's openness and the comprehensive nature of its CSR report. One criticism, though, is that HP should disclose the monetary value of its green and ethical activities -- if CO2 emissions reductions have saved money, it should be trumpeted. The bottom line is the only issue on the minds of most manufacturers, and if the market leader can save money through recycling, so can anyone.
Government IT sets green example, says Citrix - Manufacturing Computer Solutions
The public sector is embracing green IT, with policies in place or planned in 67% of organisations, according to a survey released today by Citrix Systems.
Its research found that virtualisation, flexible working and providing services for staff and citizens are also high on government organisations’ IT agendas.
Want Green Cell Phone Goods? Solar Bluetooth, Recycled Tire Case - Earth2Tech
Credo Mobile, the green phone division of Working Assets, has two new accessories it started touting on Tuesday. The San Francisco-based company that gives a portion of its phone plan revenues to charities has started offering its subscribers a solar-powered Bluetooth headset from Iqua, and a phone case made out of recycled tires from Better Energy Systems.
Give Your Solar Gadget Charge a Boost - EcoGeek
Enter the Supercharger, an add-on for the Freeloader that you can attach to your bag or other such item to charge your Freeloader when you want some extra boost. The 1.5-watt solar cell will fully charge the little battery booster in four hours, giving you hours and hours of extra life on your iPod, phone, or whatever other little gadgets you may be carrying around with you. The enclosure for the panels is also hardy enough to withstand most of what nature can throw at you.
Apple's taking some heat and it's not from Greenpeace for a change.
This time, the company has drawn the ire of New Yorkers by opposing the GreeNYC logo. Now, though they bear similarities (being apples and all), I highly doubt people, whether versed in the intricacies of trademarks or not, will be mobbing the New York Travel and Tourism Office in search of iStuff. But that's just me.
Oh, and ever heard of the Big Apple? Apparently not. Be sure to get a load of the comments in this Engadget post for some fun fanboy vs. die-hard New Yorker action.
[via Treehugger]
This AFP article describes a nation that is (slowly) no longer turning its nose up at renewable energy sources like wind thanks to obscene spikes in energy costs and efforts from states like California. Now, if only Washington DC would get the message...Barbara Hayes, executive director of the Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade Organization, said state-backed laws have set "very aggressive" renewable energy goals.
Hayes was in Washington with a large delegation of business and community leaders from California seeking to persuade federal lawmakers to extend increased support to so-called clean technologies such as wind and solar power.
Sure, wind turbines and solar panel are not exactly the most dependable of sources since it's variable (no wind/no sun = no power), but new approaches, like compact roof turbines, can nonetheless help reduce a home's or business' reliance on the grid. That's what Marquiss Wind Power does.
Paul Misso, the chief executive of California-based Marquiss Wind Power, said he was working hard to change the social perceptions of placing a compact wind turbine on a roof to generate renewable electricity.
Misso's firm, which has only been in business since 2006, markets framed roof top wind turbines that pivot into the prevailing wind for commercial buildings.
"Rooftops have very turbulent winds. It's a great place to harness the wind for power generation," Misso said, during a break at a Washington hotel from back-to-back business and lobbying meetings.
Any bets on long before rooftop solar and wind installations become widespread?
Finally!Today is an exciting day for everyone glued to their favorite gadget site/blog for news on HP's ultraportable. You see, HP is officially offering the 2133 for sale with a ship date of April 15 (as of this writing) for a fully outfitted model.
Oddly, HP decided to publicize the Mini-Note (aka HP's UMPC) as a notebook to "help schools offer affordable computing to every student." Nothing casts a pall over technology reporting like a device that is positioned for the dreaded "education market" -- especially one as sexy as the HP 2133 Mini-Note PC.
“Education shouldn’t end at the bell,” said Jeri Callaway, vice president and general manager, Personal Systems Group – Americas, HP. “HP believes providing each student with an affordable, creative multimedia tool like the HP Mini will better prepare them to live, learn and work in an information-rich society.”A noble sentiment, but NO! What about all those early adopters looking for power (and space) efficient computing?! In the next paragraph, though, they attempt to redeem themselves.
Business and mobile professionals value the same mobility, usability and cost concerns of the education market. The HP Mini provides mobile professionals a sleek, lightweight device that provides access to information and the ability to collaborate with others as well as to communicate via email, instant messaging or even blogging.Now we're on the right track. But what geeks really want are specs (and the shopping cart). Tucked in the SMB store, you'll find that the Mini-Note 2133 can be had for $499 (SUSE Linux, 1 GHz VIA C7-M processor, 512 RAM, 4 GB Flash), all the way up to $749 (Vista Business, 1.6 GHz VIA C7-M processor, 2 GB RAM, 120 GB hard drive, Bluetooth). All versions have built-in a/b/g Wi-Fi and a VGA webcam.
So... is it enough to divert your gaze from the Eee?