Katie Fehrenbacher | posted on February 6, 2009

The smart grid might have launched into the mainstream lexicon recently with GE’s super bowl ad and funding included in the current stimulus package, but the budding industry could falter out of the gate in this economic climate. Smart grid companies are showing some concern over utilities slowing down smart grid rollout plans in the near term, and the stimulus package is actually just a drop in the bucket of the investment needed to launch a nationwide smart grid.

Katie Fehrenbacher | posted on February 4, 2009

Making data centers more energy efficient in a recession is a clear-cut decision for IT managers: cut power, save money, gain green PR. And the Green Grid organization, a trade group dedicated to reducing energy consumption of data centers, wants to help out. On Wednesday at the group’s second annual forum, it plans to launch an extensive multiyear guide, as well as a new metric, that can aid companies looking to design and operate energy-efficient data centers.

 

Larry Vertal, director of the Green Grid and senior strategist at AMD, told us that the guides, dubbed “Data Centers 2.0,” will focus on how to build out data centers while ensuring that the energy consumption of the individual components are tracked in real time. Real-time monitoring can ensure that the whole center is working as efficiently as possible. The organization, which created the industry standard Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) metric that is found by dividing “total facility power” by “IT equipment power,” will also be highlighting a newer metric called data center productivity, or DCP, which will focus on how much useful work is being done as energy is consumed. …read full discussion

Katie Fehrenbacher | posted on January 26, 2009

Remember the data center construction boom of the dotcom bubble? Well, the opposite trend — data center consolidation –  is starting to take effect now that energy efficiency is becoming increasingly popular and the economy has hit the skids. Sun is announcing Monday that it has finished “the largest data center consolidation project undertaken in the company’s history,” with a new energy-efficient data center in Broomfield, Colo. The data center is one of at least five that Sun has spent around $250 million constructing in recent years, while reducing its data center square footage by 60 percent.

The news comes just a day before Sun is expected to announce pretty poor quarterly earnings. Forbes says the earnings will likely deliver “the largest drop in year-over-year revenues,” since early 2008, as well as offer a closer look at how recently announced layoffs will be effecting the company. But the data center consolidation plan addresses cost-cutting, too.

The new 126,000-square-foot data center is the result of consolidating some 496,000 square feet of computing space, or a 66 percent reduction, in nearby Louisville, Colo., which Sun acquired after buyingnetwork computing company StorageTek. Sun says the new smaller Broomfield data center will save the company $1 million per year on its electricity bill by reducing 1 million kWh per month, eliminate 11,000 tons of CO2 per year that would be emitted into the atmosphere, and reduce Sun’s U.S. carbon footprint by 6 percent. …read full discussion

Katie Fehrenbacher | posted on January 23, 2009

With a record number of viewers watching video streams of the presidential inauguration this week, it’s not hard to see why energy consumption of the Internet has doubled between 2000 and 2006. And it’s just going to consume more energy as greater numbers turn to the web for entertainment, news, communication and shopping and as Internet users demand faster broadband speeds.

But take a closer look at the numbers and we can see the Internet is actually getting more energy efficient. According to data from Jonathan Koomey, scientist with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, while Internet energy use doubled from 2000 to 2006, Internet traffic has far more than doubled during that period, and has ramped up by a factor of 20 to the 5th (or 3.2 million). The reason for the discrepancy is because network technologies have gotten consistently more energy efficient per unit of data transferred over the Internet. …read full discussion

Katie Fehrenbacher | posted on January 21, 2009

 

The idea of making the power grid smarter has entered the mainstream lexicon this year, with the inclusion of smart grid funding in the proposed stimulus package. Part of making the grid smarter is installing technology in homes — from smart meters, to better software, to wireless in-home networks — to help people monitor and reduce energy and cut down on their electricity bill. Some of the early trials that started in 2008 are starting to show positive results, but the more advanced technology is still taking baby steps.

This morning, smart grid startup Silver Spring Networks and software developer Greenbox are touting results of a small trial with Oklahoma Gas and Electric. Silver Spring’s network technology was installed, along with smart meters in 6,600 apartments for a trial that tested remote monitoring and termination of services; 25 customers tested out energy management services using Greenbox in-home software. …read full discussion

Best of the Green Web | posted on January 20, 2009

 

As President-elect Barack Obama is sworn in at 11:30 am in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday afternoon, the world is officially welcoming a dramatic shift in U.S. policy and federal support for renewable energy and the fight for climate change. It’s a shift that is coming at a crucial moment in history. Scientists like James Hansen are saying that the next four years are the countdown on the clock for action on global warming. Basically, we can still effect change now, but action has to be dramatic and aggressive.

The millions that have gathered in D.C. to witness the inaugural event aren’t waiting to hear about Obama’s stance on clean power, but, like the entrepreneurs, scientists, investors and engineers in the cleantech industry, they’re also desperate for change. The previous administration has managed to position the U.S. on the wrong course on all climate issues, from the Kyoto Protocol to scientists like Hansen, who claims that they censored his CO2 reduction data. (For more insights, read thisawesome Grist overview on the administration’s missteps). …read full discussion

Katie Fehrenbacher | posted on January 7, 2009

The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES)— at which every new gadget debuting in the year ahead is trotted out for display in a football-sized stadium in Las Vegas — is upon us again. After spending days walking amidst rows of 82-inch flat screen TVs and pocketing useless tchotkes from hundreds of vendors at the show, you couldn’t imagine a more perfect event to embody the ultimate in consumerism and waste. But in 2008, CES introduced a “green” component, showcasing lower-power gadgets, solar-powered devices and recycled goods, in an attempt to make the show a little more palatable to the environmentally inclined. And in 2009, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the trade group behind CES, is expanding that green aspect even further, trying to adjust to both increasingly eco-friendly attitudes and leaner economic times.

“CES is going greener this year,” says Jill Fehrenbacher, creator of theGreener Gadgets conference, which CEA purchased last year for an undisclosed amount. (Disclosure: she’s also my sister, and I organized a panel at the first Greener Gadgets). CES is folding “Greener Gadgets” content into the show in various places, including a panel on Jan. 10 that will feature Mary Lou Jepsen, CEO of Pixel Qi and founder and former CTO of the One Laptop Per Child project; and Jeff Omelchuck, the executive director of the Green Electronics Council. …read full discussion

Katie Fehrenbacher | posted on December 31, 2008

 

Dell recently made it clear in a blog post that it thinks rival Apple’s green laptop claims have a lot of holes. Well, the Texas-based computer maker, which has been making one of the most substantial efforts in the computing world to produce more eco-products and neutralize its carbon footprint, also has a few questions to answer when it comes to the validity of its green efforts.

This morning the Wall Street Journal’s Jeffrey Ball has a really interesting investigative piece that claims Dell is actually only neutralizing about 5 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions that go into making its products. That small figure will surprise many who listened to Dell announce recently that it had reached its carbon-neutral goal a good five months ahead of schedule.

And while it’s difficult to know how much Dell could boost that percentage, the WSJ article also points out that Dell is largely relying on renewable energy credits to offset its carbon footprint, which can be highly controversial. It was no secret that Dell was using renewable energy credits as part of its carbon-neutral plan, along with energy efficiency, but we are unsettled to hear that the company “is claiming carbon neutrality mostly by purchasing environmental credits,” according to the Wall Street Journal. …read full discussion

Katie Fehrenbacher | posted on December 30, 2008

We’ve brought you the victories and the disappointments of the year in cleantech, and now here’s a top 10 list that’s a little more personal: The top 10 Earth2Tech stories of 2008. The list is a combo of reader favorites — page views and number of comments — along with editor’s favorites, because there were some stories that made me glad to be part of this team this year. Let’s take a look at them in descending order, Letterman-style:

10) Video: Solar + Robots = AWESOME: This post is proof that you shouldn’t edit a green technology website if you can’t celebrate your geekiness. I shot this mini video of these robots stacking solar panels — digg loved it and so did you.

9) FAQ: Thin-Film Solar: You liked it because thin-film solar its confusing and you want to know more about the technologies, the players and the market.

8) 11 Companies Racing to Build U.S. Cellulosic Ethanol Plants:Yes, cellulosic ethanol companies were definitely racing through the first three-quarters of 2008, all claiming they’d be the first to produce cellulosic ethanol. Towards the end of the year that turned into more of a stroll, and in some cases, a crawl. Will the race be declared DOA in 2009? Biofuels sure don’t have the backing they used to and the corn ethanol markets are ugly. …read full discussion

Katie Fehrenbacher | posted on December 18, 2008

Electric vehicle makers in the U.S. have often complained that Asian firms are dominating the battery market, making it difficult to find battery options domestically — heck, even chip-maker Intel has been advised to look into the market partly because it’s so sparse. This morning, a group of more than a dozen U.S. tech companies say they are looking to solve that problem; they’re teaming up to build a plant to make next-gen electric vehicle batteries and asking the U.S. government for $1 billion to support the plan, according to the variousmedia reports.

If the method — U.S. firms join up to battle Asian dominance — sounds familiar to all you old-school tech-watchers, that’s because it is. The group is modeling itself on Sematech, a coalition formed by U.S. chip companies in the late ’80s to compete with Japanese firms. The car battery consortium, known as the National Alliance for Advanced Transportation Battery Cell Manufacture, comprises: 3M,Johnson Controls, Saft, FMC, EnerSys, ActaCell, All Cell Technologies,Altair Nanotechnologies, Eagle Picher Industries, Envia Systems,MicroSun Technologies, Mobius Power, SiLyte, Superior Graphite and Townsend Advanced Energy. …read full discussion