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March 06, 2008 | Comments: (0)

clean technology saves money There are some familiar names on the 14-member roster of the newly formed Green Power Group - California, a partnership of companies that will collaborate on purchasing and fostering clean energy: AMD, Apple, BT Americas, Cisco, eBay, Google, HP, Intel, and Intuit. Indeed, more than half of the members of the group represent the high-tech industry.

It would be rash to attribute the disproportionate representation to the simple fact that California is home to so many tech companies. Rather, I view it as another clear indication of just how much IT businesses stand to gain from the evolution of renewable power. Clean energy not only yields feel-good CSR (corporate social responsibility) benefits while alleviating the effects of global warming; it stands to save big money for increasingly power-hungry companies with enormous datacenter power bills -- the Googles, HPs, Ciscos, and eBays of the world. Moreover, it creates a lucrative opportunity for IT companies to shape the development of the intelligent, next-generation power grid -- as well as the tools used to run it.

"The [Green Power Group - California] has a pretty good mix of industries represented. But, your observation that high-tech companies can play a critical role in developing clean tech solutions is certainly accurate," says Alexander Perera, the director of Green Power Market Development Group, part of the World Resources Institute. "The high-tech industry is very actively looking for solutions to be more efficient and use cleaner power. Their core business is innovation, and when applied to finding solutions to scaling up deployment of renewables and efficient technologies, high-tech companies can have a very positive impact."

"Efficient technologies," of course, translates to "less-wasteful, less-expensive technologies." Given the volatility of energy prices, as well as the threat of a true power crisis, clean tech is a smart investment for tech companies -- potentially "a built-in hedge on energy costs," as described by Reed Content, AMD's fellow for global environmental health and safety.

Content noted AMD's commitment through 2015 to run all of its Austin, Texas operations on clean energy, through the Austin Energy's GreenChoice Program. AMD has a ten-year contract with a fixed dollar-per-watt rate. For now, the company is paying a higher rate for the green power, but the company expects that to change as the price of energy derived from fossil fuels continues to rise. In the meantime, the company can boast a lower carbon footprint, which is a selling point to many investors and customers. "We didn't go into it to save a lot of money over time," Content says. "We thought it was a reasonable investment, and we were helping the city of Austin."

HP has also already hedged its bets on the rising costs of fossil-fueled-generated electricity. Late last year, the company signed separate contracts with Airtricty, a provider of wind energy, and SunPower, a provider of solar power. The contract with Airtricity, for 80-gigawatts of power, runs through this fiscal year, and HP expects to save $40,000. The SunPower contract covers the installation of a 1-megawatt solar installation for 15 years and will save HP an estimated $750,000. Like AMD, HP also shrinks its carbon footprint in the process.

Tech companies stand to reap more than lower energy bills and a reduction in GHG emissions from clean energy; they can very well profit as the power industry and its underlying architecture transforms, a point made by Laura Ipsen, senior vice president of global policy and government affairs at Cisco.

"Cisco believes information technology will play an increased role in the way energy sources are managed, monitored, and better utilized in the future," she says. "The technology industry understands the need for innovation to develop data, common languages, and industry standards for addressing energy issues. At Cisco, we recognize that IT may be a small part of the climate change issue, but it can be a large part of the solution."

As suggested by Ipsen, as more clean-technology providers plug into the grid, and as organizations struggle to better monitor and rein in their energy consumption, IT companies have a huge opportunity to deliver the products and services to facilitate it all.

Additionally, the green IT consulting market is taking off -- Forrester predicts big growth in coming years. It certainly behooves companies providing those types of services to have a clear understanding of where clean tech can fit into a client's overall green IT strategy.

In short, the high-tech industries investment in clean technology is another fine example of how IT has the power to cultivate a greener world -- and profit in the process.

Posted by Ted Samson on March 6, 2008 03:00 AM

February 25, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Mobile operators finding green alternatives to power remote stations

Stymied by the high costs and complexities of transporting diesel to remote cellular base stations, mobile carriers are turning to alternative energy, according to a recent BusinessWeek article.

Demand is high for mobile service in parts Africa and India, according to the article, yet the reach of the electric grids is lacking in some parts of those regions to power the cell stations. Traditionally, bases that can't draw power from a nearby electrical substation run on diesel-power generators, which is a costly logistical nightmare.

Now, however, companies such as Ericsson and Nokia Siemens are seeing promise in alternative energies including wind, solar power, and bio-fuel. In India, for example, "manufacturers are moving toward facilities that use both wind and sun. Flexenclosure recently unveiled a design for a base station that features a wind generator atop the same tower that supports the antenna. Solar panels sit on the roof of the shelter that houses the switching equipment," according to the BusinessWeek article.

The upfront costs of these approaches are pricier, but the operation costs of the alternatively fueled stations are "dramtically lower," according to the article.

Additionally, carriers are adopting techniques to reduce the stations' power consumption, such as burying batteries beneath the base, thus "reducing the need for energy-gulping cooling equipment (and also reducing the risk of theft)," according to the BusinessWeek article.

I find it interesting how countries with limited resources are becoming a test bed for greener technology, such as those mentioned above as well as, say, the low-power OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) computers. Hopefully we'll see the lessons learned abroad implemented here.

Posted by Ted Samson on February 25, 2008 10:12 AM

January 28, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Intel goes on green-tag buying spree

In an effort to fuel the growth of the clean-energy market, Intel today announced plans to spend an undisclosed sum purchasing more than 1.3 billion kilowatt hours per year in renewable energy credits (RECs). According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this move makes Intel the single-largest corporate purchaser of green power in the United States.

As explained by the EPA, "RECs (also known as green tags, green energy certificates, or tradable renewable certificates) represent the technology and environmental attributes of electricity generated from renewable sources. Renewable energy certificates are usually sold in 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) units; a certificate can be sold separately from the MWh of generic electricity it is associated with. This flexibility enables customers to offset a percentage of their annual electricity use with certificates generated elsewhere."

Sterling Planet, a national supplier of renewable energy, energy efficiency and low-carbon solutions, will handle Intel's REC purchase, which includes a portfolio of wind, solar, small hydro-electric and biomass sources.

"The EPA estimates that Intel's REC purchase has the equivalent environmental impact of taking more than 185,000 passenger cars off the road each year, or avoiding the amount of electricity needed to power more than 130,000 average American homes annually," according to Intel's announcement.

These green tags/RECs shouldn't be confused with white tags, or energy efficiency credits, which represent megawatt hours saved through power-saving projects such as server consolidation.

I commend Intel here for its move. In an ideal world, of course, companies seeking to run their operations on clean technology would be able to draw on clean energy straight from the grid, rather than having to buy RECs. Given the momentum of the clean-tech movement, that should become feasible in coming years.

Posted by Ted Samson on January 28, 2008 02:41 PM

December 18, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Congress misses chance to seed essential green-energy growth

A few days have passed since the U.S. Senate passed a modified version of the energy bill that passed through the House of Represenatives. One of the most notable changes, as summarized by CNN: "a broad tax package that they had designed to pay for incentives aimed at spurring the development of wind, solar and alternative fuels such as cellulosic ethanol, as well as energy efficiency and conservation programs."

The changed bill that passed through the Senate hasn't sat well with representatives of the alternative-energy industry, which shouldn't come as a surprise. Brian F.Keane, president of SmartPower -- a national, non-profit marketing organization dedicated to promoting clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency -- had this to say:

"The U.S. Senate's Energy Bill does not answer the American public's demand for clean and renewable energy sources, but it does cater to the needs to the Big Oil industry. This legislation proves that there is a strong need for a voluntary marketplace for clean energy. While leadership on this issue may be lacking in Washington, the states, municipalities, corporations, and individuals have all shown strong leadership by creating a vibrant, voluntary market for clean energy."

There was no lack of effort from members of the business world to see government seed the burgeoning alternative-energy market. Earlier this year, TechNet, a political network of CEOs, called on Congress and the president to invest more seed money in sustainable-energy initiatives and offer greater tax incentives to go green.

But as observed by Keane, many organizations -- including HP, Google, and Rackspace -- have recognized the benefits of investing in cleaner energy sources, such as wind, solar, and natural gas. Notably, though, at least some of these investments have been spurred by incentive programs offered by utility companies.

From my perspective, it's certainly heartening to see consumers and companies alike continuing to recognize the economic and environmentaly benefits of alternative energy and embracing it accordingly. But it's essential for our nation's leaders to set aside their political differences and recognize those benefits -- and to invest in cleaner, more reliable fuel to power our nation.

Ted Samson is a senior analyst at InfoWorld and writer of the Sustainable IT blog. Subscribe to his free weekly Green Tech newsletter.

Posted by Ted Samson on December 18, 2007 01:57 PM

November 28, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Google to invest millions in seeding green energy

In a move with clear environmental and business benefits, Google has announced plans to pour tens of millions of dollars next year into research and development and related investments in renewable energy. The company also plans to invest hundreds of millions of greenbacks in breakthrough renewable energy projects that have a tangible financial ROI.

Dubbed RE < C (which presumably stands for "renewable energy costs less than coal-generated energy"), the initiative initially will focus on advanced solar thermal power, wind power technologies, enhanced geothermal systems and other potential breakthrough technologies.

"Our goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal. We are optimistic this can be done in years, not decades," said Larry Page, Google co-founder and president of products

Coal is used to supply 40 percent of the energy in the world, according to Google. Coal-spawned energy also results in the production of greenhouse-gas emissions. Renewable energy can reduce the amount of GHGs spewed out each year.

As part of the RE < C, Google will work with various organizations in the renewable energy field, including companies, R&D laboratories, and universities. Among them, there's eSolar, a Pasadena, Calif.-based company specializing in solar thermal power which replaces the fuel in a traditional power plant with heat produced from solar energy.

There's also Makani Power, located in Alameda, Calif. The company is developing high-altitude wind-energy extraction technologies aimed at harnessing the most powerful wind resources.

Sergey Brin, Google co-founder and president of technology, cited by both the economic and environmental benefits of fostering renewable energy sources: "Cheap renewable energy is not only critical for the environment but also vital for economic development in many places where there is limited affordable energy of any kind."

Of course, "places in the world where affordable energy is sparse" aren't the only ones to benefit from emerging alternative-energy technologies. As with other companies that have power-hungry operations and are investing in renewable energy, Google's move ties in to its own long-term sustainability. Being able to reduce power bills and to generate its own electricity results in more resources to expand.

Posted by Ted Samson on November 28, 2007 09:06 AM

November 27, 2007 | Comments: (0)

HP harnesses solar, wind power

Looking to reap financial savings and reduce its carbon footprint, HP today announced that it will use solar power for its forthcoming datacenter in San Diego and wind power for facilties in Ireland.

For the San Diego facility, HP has signed an agreement with SunPower that covers the installation of a 1-megawatt solar-electric power system and required maintenance of the system for the next 15 years. The solar installation won't belong to HP; rather, it will be financed and owned by a third-party financier. That means HP won't put down a dime in upfront capital costs. Moreover, under the terms of the agreement, HP has locked in a reduced, locked-in rate under the SunPower Access program.

HP estimates it will save approximately $750,000 in energy costs during the next 15 years. The company also will earn renewable energy credits as the installation will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 16 million pounds during the next 15 years.

The SunPower installation will include 5,000 solar panels atop five of the seven buildings. Notably, it will only provide just over 10 percent of HP's energy use at the San Diego facility.

Over in Ireland, HP has sign a contract with Airtricity, a renewable energy company developing and operating wind farms across Europe and North America. Through the agreement, Airtricity will supply renewable wind energy, generated by both onshore and offshore wind farms. to a number of HP's facilities in Ireland for fiscal year 2008.

Through the contract, HP will purchase more than 80 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy. The company predicts it will save around $40,000 over the year-long contract, and that it will reduce its carbon emissions by 40,000 tons.

Posted by Ted Samson on November 27, 2007 08:37 AM

August 01, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Update: Web-host company fully embraces solar

Correction: In the original version of this article, I mistakenly suggested that Greenest Host was the owner of the solar-powered datacenter I discuss. The facility belongs to AISO; Greenest Host is leasing a portion of the datacenter for its Web-hosting operation.

Additionally, I reported that Greenest Host is running 600 servers. They say they've reserved enough space to run as many as 600, though at the time of writing, they are unable to provide a specific figure.

I apologize for any confusion I may have caused.

InfoWorld: New Web-host company fully embraces solar While large companies such as Microsoft and Google have gingerly plugged in to the sun's energy, a newly announced Web host called Greenest Host is fully basking in it, with much thanks to AISO (Affordable Internet Service Online).

Following the lead of other companies seeking to boast green credentials, San Diego, Calif.-based Greenest Host has set up its Web-host service in AISO's 100-percent solar-powered datacenter. The facility is located in the inland desert of Southern California where its solar panels can soak up the sun year 'round.

The appeal of being a fully solar-powered company was strong for the company's CEO Mike Corrales. "Personally, my core values tend to skew toward green application and green causes," he says. "We wanted to make it really easy for end consumers and small businesses to be able to build their own Web sites in a way that coincided with their own personal value system."

According to Phil Nail, founder of AISO, many organizations have been turning to his company's hosting services for similar reasons. "We've seen a lot of that," says Nail. "Even out of the U.K, they're really coming out of the woodwork. A lot of companies have decided to resell our service."

By day, AISO's servers feed directly off the panels. By night, they get their power from batteries that store the excess solar energy. But the company has a backup plan. "[AISO.net] has a backup generator that runs on propane, just in case there is a shortage, or for some reason, we went 30 days in a row without sun," says Corrales.

Inside the datacenter, AISO runs new AMD Opteron-powered servers, "which use 60 percent less energy and generate 50 percent less heat" than the previous generation, according to the company.

"[AISO] worked closely with AMD to make sure that we have the best possible solution for our green datacenter. Because of their willingness to literally work hand-in-hand through the entire design and development process of the datacenter infrastructure, [AISO] felt that AMD was and still is the only way to go," says Corrales.

And, of course, AISO employs virtualization (from VMWare, specifically) "to reduce cooling and electrical requirements with a 30:1 ratio of virtual servers to physical servers."

For cooling, AISO uses two Energy Star-compliant systems from Freus. The cooling systems monitor outside air temperature, according to the Greenest Host, and when it reaches 50 degrees or below, "they suck the outside air in, filter it, and direct it into the datacenter, thus saving electricity when it's cool outside."

Moreover, AISO employs redundant environmental monitors from APC. These act as smoke alarms, but they also monitor humidity and cooling levels. "In case of a cooling issue, our support staff is notified immediately. This ensures all servers are maintained in a cool environment, which will prolong the life of the servers," according to the company.

The datacenter itself is built from steel and multiple layers of environmentally friendly insulation, the company says. The design keeps the cool air in and the hot air out, thus reducing the amount of energy necessary to run the facility.

AISO is also in the process of adding a green roof, which it says will reduce cooling and heating requirements by up to 50 percent. (A green roof, essentially, is a layer of soil and vegetation atop a building.)

Moreover, the company has a to-do list of other innovative and eco-friendly projects, according to Nail. "We are adding an underground water-storage tank to recycle grey water. Next, we are installing a new solar-panel automated-washing device we created. This will automatically wash the solar panels each morning, and all excess water will be filtered back into the storage tank. We'll also be using the storage tank water to water our landscape," he tells me via e-mail.

Given the green wave that's swept the business world, Corrales anticipates organizations will be lured by the eco-friendly nature of the service. "We can have an ethically superior choice available for people, but they don't have to sacrifice higher performance," he says. "Our pricing is pretty in line with all the major standard Web-hosting options out there."

Greenest Host will open to the public on Aug. 1. For more information, go to greenesthost.com. For more information about AISO, go to aiso.net.

Posted by Ted Samson on August 1, 2007 01:31 PM

July 05, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Power delivery, the smart way

Congress contemplates upgrading the nation's dumb electricity-delivery infrastructure to a smart grid

InfoWorld: Power delivery, the smart way Electricity prices are costly, sure, but you know what else is expensive? Power outages. They cost U.S. business at least $50 billion a year, according to Electric Power Research Institute estimates, as computer screens go black, servers stop humming, conveyor belts stop moving, and workers step out for coffee. (By an odd coincidence, InfoWorld's San Francisco office is suffering a power outage as I write this article at my home office in Sacramento. I think I've discovered another benefit to telecommuting.)

It's rather heartening to see that elected officials have taken notice of the problems with the nation's energy-delivery systems, which have proven to be, at times, unreliable (rolling blackouts, anyone?) and unable to meet the nation's ever-increasing demand.

Part of the proposed energy bill from members of Congress calls for the possible development of a countrywide smart electric grid, a system that could result in overall more efficient and reliable electricity service here in the States.

Essentially, a smart grid is an intelligent electricity-delivery system, through which energy suppliers and consumers are all interconnected through a network. Smart meters are installed at homes and business to monitor energy consumption and transmit that information back to energy providers. Energy providers not only have the ability to track energy consumption -- but also to automatically throttle down energy consumption on a granular level when demand gets too high.

For example, participating users -- be they business or home owners -- might agree to have their building's air conditioning systems automatically turned down, or certain lights turned off, during peak hours when the grid is being heavily taxed. That reduces the strain on the grid, thus preventing rolling blackouts and costly downtime.

Preventing unplanned downtime for systems and employees is but one of the benefits of a smart grid. Smart meters are capable of measuring energy consumption all hours of the day, and utilities could set prices according to demand during a given time. Thus, those who wait until after peak hours to perform certain tasks -- be it a consumer turning on the dishwasher or a network admin setting systems to be woken up for patching -- could save some green.

"Letting customers choose to lower their bills by shifting usage reduces peak demand and helps avoid power shortages, transmission problems and the need to build new power plants," says Richard Mora, president and CEO of Landis+Gyr, a member of the Demand Response and Advanced Metering (DRAM) Coalition. "Just as important if not more so, by some customers reducing peak demands, it dampens the market power of sellers during peak periods and thus lowers prices for everyone."

Mora also notes that "the two-way communication ability that comes with smart meters and other demand-response technologies gives electricity providers another tool for optimizing their planning and operations and creating a truly smart grid.”

(There's an interview with Steve Widergren, administrator for the GridWise Architecture Council, right here in which he discusses in more detail how this might work for a business.)

A smart grid also can deliver energy more efficiently, according to a report by the Energy Future Coalition titled "Challenge and Opportunity: Charting a New Energy Future." [PDF] "Grid upgrades that increase the amount of power that can be moved through the transmission grid and that optimize those power flows will reduce waste and maximize use of the lowest-cost generation resources."

Again, that's good for consumers -- plus by reducing waste, it's also good for the environment.

Yet another benefit: Using the smart grid monitoring tools, providers could assess in real time how much electricity far-flung green power sources, such as wind farms and solar panels, are churning out at a given time.

Points for the grid
Smart-grid technology is already proving is worth. I recently spoke with JT Keating, the VP of marketing at Site Controls. The company offers an energy and facilities management solution called Site-Command. The platform remotely monitors, logs, and controls HVAC, lighting, outdoor signage, refrigeration, and other major in-store energy consumers. Admins have online, real-time access to the switches for all of these energy-users.

Additionally, the company offers a hosted service to monitor energy usage at its customers facilities. (Right now, the company targets large retail, restaurant, and convenience store chains.)

According to Keating, the company works with customers to establish practices for reducing energy consumption for times that local utilities are threatening to launch rolling brownouts because energy demand is too high -- a practice Keating likens to "performing surgery with an ax."

Depending on the customer, that might mean setting the AC a couple of degrees higher or turning off certain lights, practices that can add up and prevent the need for a planned blackout. According to the company, "Site Controls' intelligent load management capabilities reduced peak load by 38 percent during the emergency curtailment requested by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)" in 2006.

Utilities such as PG&E in California and Con Edison in New York already have smart meters in place at some of the customer's locations, which have proven successful in helping monitor energy consumption and promote conservation to stave off power outages.

Smart grid technology is out there, and as evidenced by the proposed energy bill, even our sometimes non-tech-savvy elected officials are now becoming aware of the potential benefits. Even if the overall bill ends up getting buried, I, for one, certainly hope that the Feds vigorously pursue legislation promoting smart grids. Like so many other green-technologies, it's good for business and it's good for the environment, something all politicians should be behind.

Posted by Ted Samson on July 5, 2007 12:03 AM

June 11, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Alternative-power datacenter part of Rackspace green initiatve

New green facility, carbon offsets part of managed datacenter-hosting company's eco-friendly initiative

Rackspace has joined the ranks of companies such as HP, IBM, Dell, and Yahoo announcing plans to become better environmental stewards by embracing carbon reduction, energy conservation, and other green initiatives.

A managed datacenter hosting company with 90,000 square feet of space worldwide, Rackspace today announced that as part of its GreenSpace campaign, it's planning to open a new data center next year in the Slough, England region which will be powered directly by alternative energy from a utility called Slough Heat and Power.

Also, the company has teamed up with NativeEnergy, a national marketer of renewable energy credits and carbon offsets. Rackspace plans to purchase offsets through NativeEnergy for each new customer server it brings online. Specifically, the company will buy offsets through a wind farm project, which powers at Sioux Indian reservation in South Dakota, as well as a methane project that powers a dairy farm in Pennsylvania.

The practice of purchasing carbon offsets has garnered criticism from some environmentalists, arguing that companies should take direct measures to reduce CO2 pollution. But Rackspace CTO John Engates said that it's difficult to find utilities in the U.S. offering direct alternative energy. "As power and utility companies in regions we work have alternative power available to buy directly, we'll explore that," he said.

In addition to reducing its carbon footprint, Rackspace has been looking at other ways to reduce its energy consumption, including choosing servers that use less power. "Primarily, we buy from HP and Dell. HP has servers that are our primary model: a dual-process, dual-core server that is many times more efficient than servers of two generations ago," Engates says.

The ongoing chip wars between AMD and Intel have affected which hardware the company buys. "When Intel had problems with power and AMD was winning, we switched to AMD for a vast majority of our deployments," says Engates. "Intel is back on par, perhaps in the lead, and we're starting to offer the latest Intel processors to our customers."

Like other IT leaders, Engates is also concerned about there being sufficient energy available in the future. "If we don't pay attention to this and start to cut power usage, we all in for power problems down the road. We'll still need to continue to build power plants, but hopefully, we won't have to add as many if we can work on programs like these down the road," he says.

Companies like Rackspace are also increasingly concerned with their image as it pertains to energy usage. "The fact that dactacenters are going to be large consumers of power means that we need to work on [conservation]. We don't want to be the bad guys. People will eventually look for large-scale users of power and will ask them to cut their consumption," Engates says.

Finally, in addition to being an active member of The Green Grid consortium, Rackspace is working to foster environmental awareness and education among employees. For instance, the company had a its first "Green Day" event earlier this month, inviting more than fifteen vendors and non-profit organizations to present employees with environmentally friendly tips and product alternatives.

Posted by Ted Samson on June 11, 2007 09:26 AM

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