Clean Energy Transition

The Green Grid, a non-profit consortium dedicated to advancing energy efficiency in data centers and business computing ecosystems, has announced its technology roadmap and key deliverables for 2007. For the next several months, The Green Grid will focus on data collection through the documentation of existing standards and the evaluation of metrics; data assessment through a market study of current efficiency practices; and technology proposals that outline The Green Grid's recommendations for the future of energy efficient data centers.

Researchers from SRI International recently completed the first ocean tests of a system that uses a so-called artificial muscle to generate power from the motion of a buoy riding up and down on the waves. The prototype produces very little electricity but the researchers say that wave farms based on the technology could eventually rival wind turbines in power output, providing a significant source of clean energy. The SRI system is not much more than a sheet of rubber attached to a weight. It has "the mechanical complexity of a rubber band," says SRI senior researcher Roy Kornbluh.

Octillion Corp. has announced that a published research study has demonstrated that the same silicon nanoparticles used in development of the company's first-of-its-kind transparent glass window capable of generating electricity, are able to drastically increase the power performance of conventional silicon solar cells.

The world largest thin-film rooftop photovoltaic power plant was connected to the grid Wednesday after four months of construction. Over 37,000 First Solar thin-film modules have been installed on the 90,000 sqm large rooftop of a logistic centre in Ramstein, Germany. Three inverters convert the continuous current into alternating current. Under the supervision of COLEXON up to 40 mechanics and electricians were working at the construction site. Thorsten Preugschas, board member of RPSE AG, is proud of the success:" With this landmark project we were able to confirm our strong position as a project developer, demonstrating high product and service quality, a quick implementation and excellent price-performance ratio for our costumers." The solar power plant will produce about 2.4 million kWh per year. Based on a feed-in tariff of 46.3 cent/kWh the installation will earn over 1.1 Mio Euro per year. This also accounts for saving of 2 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

The paper itself is flawed suggesting that virtualisation can reeduce the number of servers required to 7% - enough to handle the average processing load. Webusers want instant reaction during the peak - for that you need spare capacity. Is this a surprise?

The Internet doesn't produce belching smokestacks or toxin-spewing drainpipes. Instead, the environmental impact of the data centers that power the Web and private networks is about as visible as the electrons moving around a company's servers. But visible or not, the ecological and economic costs of those servers are massive. A report released last week by the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that U.S. data centers (collections of computers used to power businesses' and government agencies' IT infrastructures and Web sites) consumed around 61 billion kilowatt-hours in 2006 at a cost of about $4.5 billion. That's about 1.5% of total U.S. electricity consumption, more than the electricity used by American televisions, or equivalent to the output of about 15 typical power plants

The North Carolina Senate [last week] voted 47-1 for final passage of Senate Bill 3, which includes a renewable electricity standard (RES) of 12.5% by 2021 with up to 40% of the standard being met through efficiency.

The North Carolina Senate [last week] voted 47-1 for final passage of Senate Bill 3, which includes a renewable electricity standard (RES) of 12.5% by 2021 with up to 40% of the standard being met through efficiency.

BAE Systems Demonstrates Hybrid-Electric Drive System for Ground Combat Vehicles 15 August 2007 The NLOS-C self-propelled howitzer is the first application of the common hybrid drive system. BAE Systems demonstrated the first hybrid-electric drive system for ground combat vehicles as part of the US Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. The Traction Drive Subsystem (TDS) for the FCS program is a diesel series-hybrid drive system that will provide vehicle propulsion, steering and braking, and regenerate electrical power from braking and downhill grades for use in vehicle electrical systems

The world's largest stadium-integrated photovoltaic system went into operation this week on the STADE DE SUISSE Wankdorf Bern. After the additional installation of 2,808 solar modules, the stadium now has 7,930 modules from the Japanese technology company Kyocera, providing an overall output of 1,346.774 kWp. The expanded system will produce 1,134,045 kWh per year and save on the emission of 630 tons of CO2 annually

Hydrogen is a better source of energy than you think, according to Fujitsu. The Japanese electronics giant inaugurated a 200-kilowatt hydrogen fuel cell from UTC on Friday that will provide electricity as well as heat to the buildings on its campus here. The fuel cell--which sits in the parking lot and looks like a pair of giant green dumpsters--provides two types of energy to the facility. First, a unit heats methane with steam to create hydrogen. The hydrogen is passed through a proton exchange membrane (PEM). The electricity produced by the reaction with the PEM runs lights, computers and other equipment