Green IT/Broadband and Cyber-infrastructure Overview

One of the greatest threats to our future society and economy is global warming. It is estimated that the CO2 emissions of the ICT industry alone exceeds the carbon output of the entire aviation industry. The ICT industry and research community has a collective responsibility to help address this problem. Fortunately, as compared to the aviation industry, the ICT industry and research community has the tools at hand to reduce its direct CO2 output to zero and the additional capability of enabling other sectors of society to reduce their carbon footprint through "Carbon rewards" rather than unpopular "Carbon taxes". Governments around the world are wrestling with the challenge of how to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The current preferred approaches are to impose “carbon” taxes and implement various forms of cap and trade or carbon offset systems. However another approach to help reduce carbon emission is to “reward” those who reduce their carbon footprint. It is estimated that consumers control or influence over 60% of all CO2 emissions. As such, one possible reward system of trading “bits and bandwidth for carbon”, or sometimes called "gCommerce" is to provide homeowners with free fiber to the home or free wireless products and other electronic services such as ebooks and eMovies if they agree to pay a premium on their energy consumption which will encourage them to reduce emissions by turning down the thermostat or using public transportation. Not only does the consumer benefit, but this business model also provides new revenue opportunities for network operators, optical equipment manufacturers, and eCommerce application providers.


Universities can also play a significant leadership role as cyber-infrastructure is one of the major producers of CO2 emissions at our universities. Although cyber-infrastructure is part of the problem, it can also be part of the solution. The beauty of cyber-infrastructure and ICT in general, is that thanks to high speed optical networks, this equipment can be located virtually anywhere. Relocating cyber-infrastructure computers, databases, instrumentation and laboratory equipment to remote renewable energy sites not only helps the environment but can also save the institution significant money in their energy bills. More importantly such a strategy also allows the university or researcher to earn valuable carbon offset dollars. A good example of this strategy is the PROMPT initiative "Next Generation Internet to Reduce Global Warming (G-NGI)" where researchers and institutions can earn valuable offset dollars for Internet technologies and process that reduce CO2 emissions. Universities can also encourage students and faculty to reduce their respective carbon footprint by also implementing a "gCommerce" reward system such as free eTextbooks, free downloads of video and music in exchange for students paying a premium on parking, travel and other related activities.


For more details please see

Free Fiber and High Speed Internet to the Home Initiative
http://free-fiber-to-the-home.blogspot.com/


ICT and Global Warming - opportunities for innovation and economic growth
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgbgjrct_2767dxpbdvcf


PROMPT Next Generation Internet to Reduce Global Warming

http://www.promptinc.org/documents/NGI_release_en_v2.pdf



Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Green Supercomputer uses cyclists for power

[An excellent demonstration of how we can use alternate sources of energy to power cyber-infrastructure. However we have to be careful if use human power for such activities because the calories we burn ultimately depend on our diet, which in the western world can have a large carbon footprint. An individual walking 2 km whose diet consists of steak and potatoes can leave a larger carbon footprint than driving an automobile the same distance. Thanks to John Krienke for this pointer. Some excerpts—BSA]

http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2009/01/22/Green-Supercomputing.aspx?recipid;=&Page=1

Green Supercomputing

Energy-efficient system drives climate modeling for U Maine computer science professor
In the process of building a grid that will allow users--including members of the public--to manipulate scientific models through a Web portal, Phillip Dickens, a computer science professor from the University of Maine, discovered he could go green with the choice of supercomputer he needed for the job. In fact, to demonstrate how low the energy requirements of a supercomputer could be, he enlisted members of the university's bicycle team to power it with their pedaling.

The demonstration, captured in the video below, shows a group of stationary bicyclists on one side of the room and a monitor displaying a glacial model on the other side. "This system--with a ridiculously small amount of power--was still doing world-class calculations," said James Bailey, marketing director for SiCortex, the company that makes the brand of supercomputer Dickens purchased.

The Search for the Right Supercomputer

Dickens's search for a computer wasn't quick. It began when he received a $200,000 grant in 2007 from the National Science Foundation to purchase a supercomputer upon which to run the Scientific Grid Portal for accessing his university's computing resources.

Dickens spent a year researching what system to buy. He wanted to get a supercomputer that wouldn't require dedicated resources to maintain and that would fit within his relatively modest hardware budget. "It takes a lot to put another supercomputer into the current facility. I didn't want to do that," he said. "I didn't want to worry about how to pay for maintenance." Plus, the institution was pushing to make the campuses as green as possible, and a traditional supercomputer purchase wouldn't necessarily satisfy that goal
[…]
Posted by Bill St. Arnaud at 10:23 AM

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