Greening of the Internet Economy

[I think this will be a very seminal conference, as California has probably the most ambitious Co2 emission reduction targets on the planet. As in many other areas, wherever California goes, many others are soon to follow. As there is increasing evidence that we have crossed a tipping point in terms of global warming, ICT will play an even more critical role, not only in terms of abatement but also in terms of the survival of mankind . – BSA]

Every day there is increasing more evidence that we have gone beyond the tipping point and we are now in a situation of runaway global warming.
http://climateprogress.org/2008/12/18/arctic-research-center-the-underwater-permafrost-is-thawing-and-releasing-methane/

Conference – Greening of the Internet Economy
http://greeninternet.calit2.net


We would like to invite you to participate in an important workshop being hosted by the California Public Utilities Commission and the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology on Jan 22-23rd,
2009 focused on how Information Communication Technology (ICT) can be used to address issues of global change.

Greening the Internet Economy is an invitation-only event bringing together hundreds of the foremost public policy makers, industry experts, research leaders, and global nonprofits to advance strategies for sustainability and energy efficiency in the rapidly growing realm of information and communications technology (ICT).

With the new world focus on reducing carbon emissions to fight global warming, it is time for the ICT sector to respond by reducing energy usage in a dramatic way, and ensuring ICT elements are built ³green.² This symposium will provide an unprecedented opportunity for decision-makers in key sectors‹ investment, technology, government and business‹ to identify ways of building an Internet economy and infrastructure to ensure a more sustainable future.

Sessions for the event include discussions of how California¹s landmark AB32 legislation will be implemented, opportunities for greening power hungry data centers, how global corporate leaders are reducing their carbon footprint, advances in energy and emerging technology, intelligent transportation, smart buildings, driving consumer efficiency, and the academic perspective on green ICT.

Confirmed speakers include Bill Wiehl from Google (Green Energy Czar), Arne Josefsberg (MS Data Center Architect), Tom Bauman (CEO of Climate Check), Stephen Harper (Global Director for Intel Environmental and Energy Policy), Scott Lang (President and CEO of Silver Spring Network), Rich Lechner (VP for Energy and Environment, IBM) and Wolfgang Wagener (Director of Connected Urban Development, CISCO) are but a few of the exceptional panelists lined up to offer insight for the event.

Seating is limited and this event is invitation-only.

Please accept your invitation as soon as possible to ensure your space and register today at http://greeninternet.calit2.net

Opportunity cost-benefit analysis of Green IT

[An interesting aspect on the debates of solution to CO2 emissions is the cost benefit analysis of various technology approaches. As pointed out in Joseph Romm’s blog “Climate Progress” an opportunity cost benefit analysis highly favours windmills and solar thermal power (not photovoltaics) because they can be deployed quickly and start reducing CO2 emissions immediately. Nuclear power, on the hand, has a huge opportunity cost because of the long time frame it will require to deploy nuclear power plants. As a result, by taking into consideration opportunity cost-benefit analysis nuclear comes off second worst to carbon sequestration in terms of alternate energy solutions for reducing CO2 emissions.

By that same analysis I would argue that Green IT has a significant opportunity benefit even greater than windmills. We know from reports like SMART 2020 that Green IT can reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 15%. But since many of these solutions can implemented almost immediately (given sufficient incentives such as mandated carbon neutrality), the opportunity benefit may be significantly greater than the nominal 15% reduction.

As well, given the compelling cost benefit analysis of windmills, it is likely they will contribute a significant amount of baseload power, which could result in wide fluctuations in power availability. As I have pointed out in this blog before, Next Generation Internet network and grids could be readily designed to deal with this fluctuating load without resorting to backup power from batteries or diesel generators. (See my blog on follow the sun/follow the wind networks and grids). This is the mind set we need to develop as we move forward to a future zero carbon society. To date electrical power engineers assume all of their customers need the same degree of reliable power, and therefore are less than enthusiastic about most renewable energy sources because of their unreliability. Green Internet and IT can be easily designed to handle large fluctuations in the availability of renewable energy---BSA]

Joseph Romm’s blog on opportunity cost-benefit analysis
http://climateprogress.org/2008/12/14/stanford-study-part-1-wind-solar-baseload-easily-beat-nuclear-and-they-all-best-clean-coal/


World’s first demo of follow the sun/follow the wind network and grid
http://green-broadband.blogspot.com/2008/10/worlds-first-demo-of-follow-sunfollow.html

Preparing for the next 911 event - climate catastrophe

[Scientists around the world are increasingly being alarmed that CO2 emissions are growing faster than the most pessimistic projections. It is likely that the planet will see a 4C temperature rise which will cause major social and economic disruptions. Unfortunately the public and governments are not going to respond to the seriousness of this situation until we have a major climate catastrophe such as major continent wide drought, collapse of an ice shelf etc. In the event of a major climate catastrophe governments may be forced to undertake draconian steps such as shutting down all coal plants, or imposing carbon neutrality across the entire economy. Clearly this would every major implications on the economy and society. Many organizations have undertaken disaster recovery or business continuity plans to deal with terrorist attacks or natural disasters, but few have done any planning in the event of a climate catastrophe. Terrorist attacks or natural disasters tend to be local and of relatively short duration. A climate catastrophe may be global and last for decades. Are you prepared? Have you implemented network and data solutions that can survive such a long disruption? --- BSA]


My presentation to Dynamic Coalition on Internet and Climate Change (DCICC)
Preparing for the next 911- climate catastrophe
http://www.slideshare.net/bstarn/preparing-for-climate-911-event-presentation/

What are the near-term climate Pearl Harbors?
http://climateprogress.org/2008/11/24/what-are-the-near-term-climate-pearl-harbors/


Too late? Why scientists say we should expect the worst

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/dec/09/poznan-copenhagen-global-warming-targets-climate-change

At a high-level academic conference on global warming at Exeter University this summer, climate scientist Kevin Anderson stood before his expert audience and contemplated a strange feeling. He wanted to be wrong. Many of those in the room who knew what he was about to say felt the same. His conclusions had already caused a stir in scientific and political circles. Even committed green campaigners said the implications left them terrified.

Anderson, an expert at the Tyndall Centre for http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climatechange Climate Change Research at Manchester University, was about to send the gloomiest dispatch yet from the frontline of the war against climate change.

Despite the political rhetoric, the scientific warnings, the media headlines and the corporate promises, he would say, http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/carbonemissions carbon emissions were soaring way out of control - far above even the bleak scenarios considered by last year's report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Stern review.

The battle against dangerous climate change had been lost, and the world needed to prepare for things to get very, very bad.

At 650ppm, the same fuzzy science says the world would face a catastrophic 4C average rise. And even that bleak future, Anderson said, could only be achieved if rich countries adopted "draconian emission reductions within a decade". Only an unprecedented "planned economic recession"
might be enough. The current financial woes would not come close.

Anderson is not the only expert to voice concerns that current targets are hopelessly optimistic. Many scientists, politicians and campaigners privately admit that 2C is a lost cause. Bob Watson, chief scientist at the Environment Department and a former head of the IPCC, warned this year that the world needed to prepare for a 4C rise, which would wipe out hundreds of species, bring extreme food and water shortages in vulnerable countries and cause floods that would displace hundreds of millions of people. Warming would be much more severe towards the poles, which could accelerate melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets.