rdmurer

Moving on

2010-03-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

Dear friends, ou melhor caros amigos, em breve mudanças. Estou construindo um novo blog no Wordpress. As mudanças não serão somente de layout, mas também de conteúdo, o qual será mais amplo, mas relacionado ao mundo digital. Assim vocês terão mais motivos para visitá-lo. Aguardem, avisarei todos em breve.

Abs.

Carbon footprint and Desktop PCs

2010-03-02T13:52:00.000-08:00

An interesting initiative from HP: "The HP Carbon Footprint Calculator for Home and Business Computing Products". Although it is intended only for HP products (no surprises here), the tool is extremely useful for IT managers to be aware of energy consumption and the volume of CO2 and equivalent gases emissions. Easy to use, it is useful to draw a base-line and start a more elaborate project to reduce emissions.

The HP Carbon Footprint Calculator you find here: http://www.hp.com/large/psg/carbon-footprint-calc.html

Energy - We need a choice

2010-02-24T03:59:00.000-08:00

Currently, we are not responsible for generating the energy we consume. It comes to us from any source, whether renewable or not. In the United States for example, 86% of all types of energy used is derived from fossil fuels, so those who consume this type of energy contribute for greenhouse gases (GHH) emissions.
Imagine a future where we can choose the energy source that we will use renewable or not from Smart Grids, or even produce our own energy, from rooftop solar panels or backyard wind turbines. This is not science fiction, this the kind of future we need, to preserve nature and fight against Global Warming.

The Green Web - part II

2010-02-20T05:08:00.000-08:00

When it comes to green web, we internet users, have a very important role. Why? Because we are the buyers of desktop PCs, notebooks, mobile phones and smartphones. This means that we can add an "environmental criterion " in our purchase decision. For example: to buy only lead-free laptops or mobile phones where the manufacturer has an established practice of recycling. This increases the pressure on manufacturers to produce eco-friendly products. Good for us, good for the environment.

The Green Web - part I

2010-02-17T03:33:00.000-08:00

Is it possible to imagine a green internet or sustainable internet? I think so. Social, environmental and economic impacts (the triple botton line of sustainable development) can be measured and evaluated at different levels, considering the different components and actors of the internet ecossystem. For example, on one hand, we can measure the energy consumption of network components (routers, switches, data centers, etc.) and on the other hand, we can also monitor the habits of web users: time spent online, adoption of energy saving systems, social activities and eco-friendly produts they buy. In this sense, the work of Rodney S. Tucker, ARC Special Research Center for Ultra-Broadband Information Networks (CUBIN) of the University of Melbourne, is quite promising.

You can find Professor Rodney Tucker, here at: http://people.eng.unimelb.edu.au/rtucker/index.html

How green is your IT

2010-02-11T13:45:00.000-08:00

With this new wave called "Sustainable Development" is very likely that the company you’re working for is doing some amazing advertising (or propaganda) about its eco-friendly products, recycling practices or publishing its sustainable report based on GRI (Global Report Initiative – http://www.globalreporting.org).

But something is missing. What about the IT department or the IT resources of your company? All desktops (thousands of them), servers, networking equipments… and all energy and cooling consumption to keep everything running all day long.

Yes, your IT could be green and eco-friendly too but first, you’ll need to measure how green is your IT. Accenture develop a great tool to measure how environmentally efficient is your IT, the: “Accenture Technology Consulting – Green Maturity Assessment”

You can access it here:
http://nstore.accenture.com/global/flash/gme/greenmaturity.htm

PS
This post is dedicated to an old friend: Claudir Moretti

Content dematerialization reduces GHG emission

2010-02-10T04:51:00.000-08:00

What enabled the existence of the Kindle, the iPad and all reading devices were digital scanning technologies. Long ago, the first scanner, developed in 1957 at the U.S. National Bureau of Standards started this revolution.

Since then, with the development and sophistication of this kind of hardware, the digital world has become possible. Textual content is now digital, photos do not need special paper anymore, they are now digital, music, video, movies ... The digitized content or dematerialized content significantly reduces the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG).

An entire encyclopedia, like Britannica for example, in digital format, does not need paper, physical means of transport, large storage sheds and the reader does not need to go to a library to read it, its online, everyone, everywhere can access it.

Looking at each element of this value chain, we see how the digitization of content helps to reduce greenhouse gases emissions. As well wrote Nicholas Negroponte in his book Being Digital: "the change from atoms to bits is irrevocable and unstoppable”. What he didn’t see (at that time) is the environmental contribution of the digital revolution.

Encyclopedia Britannica, here, just one click away: http://www.britannica.com/

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and GHG emissions

2010-02-09T03:57:00.000-08:00

According to the report SMART 2020 "The ICT sector’s own emissions are expected to increase, in a business as usual (BAU) scenario, from 0.53 billion tonnes (Gt) carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) in 2002 to 1.43 GtCO2e in 2020. But specific ICT opportunities identified in this report can lead to emission reductions five times the size of the sector’s own footprint,up to 7.8 GtCO2e, or 15% of total BAU emissions
by 2020."

SMART 2020 has identified many opportunities for the ICT industry, to replace goods and services with virtual equivalents and to provide technology to enable energy efficiency.

Virtualization: Kindle, iPad
Energy Efficiency: Green Data Centers, Smart Grids and Smart Buildings.
In the next few posts I will write more on these topics...

To read the full report: www.smart2020.org

Green Computing Fundamentals

2010-02-05T11:18:00.000-08:00

Green Computing or sustainable computing refers to eco-friendly and environmentally sustainable IT practices.

To better understand this new concept, it is important to observe the IT value chain, from design to disposal, through manufacturing, packaging, distribution and marketing. Also, during the use of computing resources (servers - Data Centers, PCs or network equipment for example) the implementation of procedures for the efficient use of energy are also part of green computing.

First Statement

2010-02-04T10:47:00.001-08:00

Some think that the recycled man project is about green IT or eco-friendly technologies. However, the idea is to show that only by changing ourselves we can change the planet.

So far, all technologies and machines were created by us. We are completely responsible for their direct and indirect effects on the environment. Only one new man, able to think, reflect and act based on harmony and respect for the environment can change the bleak and uncertain future that awaits us.

Computers and the Environment - One nice book

2010-02-02T13:33:00.000-08:00

Several PC manufacturers are seeking alternative and less polluting materials, as well as new forms of recycling-oriented manufacturing. It makes sense if you think that today there are between 850 million to 1 billion PCs in the world.

A great book about the impact of computers on the environment is this one:

"Computers and the Environment: Understanding and Managing their Impacts", from Ruediger Kuehr and Eric Williams.

You can find it here, at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Computers-Environment-Understanding-Managing-Eco-Efficiency/dp/1402016808/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265146056&sr=8-1

or here, at Springer: http://www.springer.com/environment/pollution+and+remediation/book/978-1-4020-1680-6

Quote of the week - Nature

2010-01-30T07:33:00.000-08:00

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.
Frank Lloyd Wright (architect - 1867 - 1959)

Energy - Chalenge number 1

2010-01-29T13:38:00.000-08:00

One idea of this blog is challenge you, and doing this help to fight global warming. Let’s talk about energy. World energy-related carbon dioxide emissions grow from 29.0 billion metric tons in 2006 to 33.1 billion metric tons in 2015 and 40.4 billion metric tons in 2030. It’s huge. Now, right in front of you, your PC is consuming energy. So, this is the first challenge: Let's Save Energy!

Install a free tool to measure the power consumption of your PC. Localcooling is one of the best. (You can find it here: http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Miscellaneous/Local-Cooling.shtml)

Modern PCs incorporate a power-management standard called the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI), which allows the operating system, BIOS, and hardware to cooperate in reducing power consumption.

Fact: Of the total electricity used by computers, only 35 percent is used for actual computing. The remaining 65 percent is wasted while computers run idle.

Go to “Control Panel”, “Power Options”. Then set your “power schemes”. Turn off your monitor and hard disks and put your PC in hibernate mode.

Tell the world! Imagine all your colleagues at work or school doing this…

iPad and the Brave Green World

2010-01-28T09:33:00.000-08:00

From Steve Jobs: "iPad is arsenic free, BFR free, mercury free, PVC free, highly recyclable."

This is my first post, just one day after the launch of the most anticipated gadget from Apple. But what caught my attention was the sentence above. If this release had occurred ten years ago, these words would not have been pronounced.

The new green consumer pushes manufacturers of all types of technologies toward a new world. More than access the web, this new Internet user wants to do it from an environmentally friendly device. And Apple knows it.

With the permission of Aldous Huxley: Welcome to the Brave Green World.