Hewlett Packard, AMD and Others Aim to Use Wind, Solar Power for Data Centers

[A concept that originated with CANARIE funded Greenstar project, spearheaded in Quebec by ETS, PROMPTinc and CRC in Ottawa, is now gaining momentum around the world.

The rebound effect and ICT - why free energy may reduce CO2 emission

[I have long argued that energy efficiency, as a primary objective, is not sufficient to slow down, never mind reduce CO2 emissions.

Scant CO2 Benefit from China’s Coal-Powered Electric Cars

Much has been made of China’s big push to build and deploy 1 million electric vehicles a year by 2015. The move will help cut smog and oil imports. Less has been made of the scant impact this is likely to have on the country’s emissions of carbon dioxide, given its enduring reliance on coal for most of its electricity. 

Packet Based Energy Delivery Systems

[Internet engineers have long recognized the value of packet based networks, particularly those that support the end to end principle.

If you have no power, energy efficiency is irrelevant

[There are dozens, if not hundreds of research initiatives around the world looking at improving energy efficiency in computers and networks.

Modeling the economy in a changing climate

As society adjusts to the knowledge that our climate is changing, policy makers are faced with a difficult question: how can they use policy to help prevent and cope with climate change, while minimizing the damage to their nation or organization’s economic health?

SURFnet pilots green cloud service for Dutch universities using lightpaths

[I recently received a fascinating e-mail from Rogier Spoor at SURFnet on an exciting initiative they have undertaken to pilot a green cloud service for Dutch universities using a lightpath connection to Iceland.

Clouds would reduce carbon emissions equivalent to 16.8 million cars

[An excellent article on the carbon reduction potential of clouds. And one of the few analysis that distinguishes between energy consumption and efficiency versus carbon footprint.

Open Flow in the real world: Carriers, clouds and follow the sun/wind networks

[It is exciting to see the concept of software controlled networks pioneered by CANARIE and CRC (UCLP) and other researchers such as Nick Mckeown at Stanford starting to gain momentum.

World's first zero carbon video conference using follow the wind/follow the sun

[At this week’s CANARIE annual general meeting the Greenstar team demonstrated the world’s first zero carbon video conference using follow the wind/follow the sun technology.

Could the Net be killing the planet one web search at a time

It's Saturday night, and you want to catch the latest summer blockbuster. You do a quick Google search to find the venue and right time, and off you go to enjoy some mindless fun.

Meanwhile, your Internet search has just helped kill the planet.

Far-flung data centers could use otherwise unharvestable renewable energy for computation.

Really Remote Data

Far-flung data centers could use otherwise unharvestable renewable energy for computation.

The future of Green IT is Survivable IT

[Before the first battle has hardly begun we have already lost the war on climate change.

Green Cloud Apps will be future killer apps for the Internet

[I recently stumbled across a very cool app called EchoSign that allows for electronic transmission and signature of all sorts of documents such as NDAs, expense claims, contract revisions, patient signatures, etc.

Obama orders all US departments and suppliers to develop climate adaptation plan

[This is big news. Developing a climate adaptation plan is a lot harder than making vague commitments to sustainability.

UK Government report on how climate change could ruin the Interent

[The UK government recently issued a report outlining the impacts of climate change on the Internet.

If the Internet was a country it would be the 5th biggest energy consumer in the world

[Another excellent analysis by Greenpeace on the threat that the Internet poses in terms of energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The dramatic growth of the data centers that power the Internet are the heavy industry of the information age.

Electric roads and Internet will allow coast to coast driving with no stopping and no emissions

[Here is a great article on some of the ongoing research with electric roads in Korea and USA. As I have blogged before electric roads can be powered solely by independent roadside windmills or solar panels, owned and operated by small businesses.

ICT research funded by GHG emission reduction program in Quebec

[Once again Quebec is a world leader in understanding the critical role that ICT can play in helping reduce ICT emissions.

Free Lunch: Exploiting Renewable Energy For Computing

[This is an excellent paper on how locating cloud computing facilities at renewable energy sites can significantly reduce the cost of computing at our universities and businesses.

Energy Efficiency Gains at Home being defeated by growth of electronic gadgets

[This is one of many reasons why I have argued that ICT energy efficiency is not sufficient. The growth in usage of computer gadgets will dwarf any gains in energy efficiency.

Australia gets it right: carbon pricing, national broadband, eResearch, Green IT research

[These days Australia seems to be firing on all cylinders and demonstrating true political leadership on a number of fronts from carbon pricing, deploying national broadband, through to  eResearch and more recently announcing the worlds’ largest Green IT research center.

Universities and R&E networks are sitting on a gold mine - the real value of IPv4 addresses

[There has been a lot of buzz in the press about the recent news of Nortel selling some of its address space to Microsoft for $7.5m which works out to $11.25 per IP address.

A new look at an old idea: Powering autos from the grid

http://goo.gl/zPHWW

Electricity that powers electric motors is the best replacement for fossil fuels that power internal combustion engines. As discussed in my lastpost, connecting to the grid while in motion is the best means of powering electric vehicles.

Relocating data centers to colder climates can reduce costs by up to 75%

[At the recent On*vector workshop in San Diego, Dallas Thorton of the San Diego Computer Center (SDSC) gave an excellent presentation on the CANARIE funded UCSD-McGill project looking at the overall cost savings by relocating a facility like the SDSC to Canada.

Smackdown: climate science vs. climate economics and impact on Internet

[Here is an excellent article that puts in stark perspective the challenges we face with future global warming.

Must read: Solar powered Wifi and Data Centers - real world examples

[Here is an excellent web site and presentation on building solar powered data centers and wide area WiFi networks.

Design principles for building networks to survive global warming

[I continue to be amazed at how little attention is being paid by network engineers on adapting to the severe challenges of global warming.

Some innovative clean energy solutions that bypass deadend thinking of energy efficiency

[For those who read my blog know that I keep harping about the fact that the pursuit of energy efficiency in its own right as a “green” strategy is an intellectual dead end.

Why Energy needs to be Free to reduce CO2 and the Falsehood of Energy Efficiency

[There has been a spate of good articles on the falsehood of energy efficiency in terms of reducing energy consumption and GHG emissions.