[CAnet - news] Renewable Energy and the Future of the Internet datacenter

For more information on this item please visit my blog at=20
http://green-broadband.blogspot.com/ or http://billstarnaud.blogspot.com
-------------------------------------------


[An excellent summary of the economic benefits of zero carbon data =
centers.
Green data centers also have the advantage of using renewable power that =
is
uneconomical to develop for other industry sectors. Many renewable =
energy
sites are not being developed because of the high cost of electrical
transmission lines and the fees that utilities charge for wheeling of =
power.
But connecting these sites with low cost fiber optic networks makes them
ideal sites for green data centers. Some excerpts from ArsTechnica--BSA]


http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080528-renewable-energy-and-the-fu=
tur
e-of-the-datacenter.html

Renewable energy and the future of the datacenter

For the governors who attended the recent climate conference at Yale, =
one of
the biggest political selling points for renewable energy sources was =
their
long-term stability. In contrast to carbon-based fuels, where extraction
mostly occurs overseas and for finite time periods, the sources of many
forms of renewable power=97solar, wind, geothermal, etc.=97are widely
distributed and indefinitely available. Several officials at the =
conference
summarized these benefits of renewable power as the ability to create
permanent jobs that don't get outsourced.

One point that state officials didn't raise, however, is that renewable
power sources provide an additional opportunity for economic development
when paired with the rise of the datacenter facility. Power consumption, =
and
the costs that it entails, are now significant factors in locating and
managing IT facilities. And though the present price of power is a major
consideration, it isn't the only one; for long-term planning, the =
stability
of a power source's cost per watt and the long-term availability of that
source have to be factored in.

So in contrast to fossil fuel-based power, renewable sources represent =
power
capacity with a source whose cost of extraction will be probably drop =
over
time due to technological innovation, which means that, even as demand
rises, the price may remain relatively stable. Renewable sources are =
also
much less likely to suffer from disruptions in supply due to political
events. These features make renewable energy sources incredibly =
appealing
for a power- and cost-sensitive activity like running a server farm, and
they're already beginning to influence decision making within the IT
community.
[..]
The companies that build datacenters have responded to this reality not =
just
by changing what kind of hardware they purchase, but by adopting the old
real estate adage=97location, location, location=97in their quest for =
ever more
cost-efficient datacenters. Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo have all =
purchased
land in the Pacific Northwest in order to guarantee access to the =
region's
cheap hydropower. Other companies are arranging for similar centers in
upstate New York in order to get access to power from Hydro-Qu=E9bec.

As the examples above indicate, hydroelectric power is currently the =
main
player in the renewable energy game. Because hydroelectric is one of the
cheapest forms renewable power, it's easy to dismiss its current =
popularity
as not really indicative of the prospects for renewable energy in =
general.
But other forms of power appear to be catching up, fast. Iceland is
advertising that its combination of hydro and geothermal power make it =
an
appealing location for data centers. Even in the US, companies are =
already
offering renewable-power based hosting. The webhost AISO happily =
proclaims
that it's willing to accept slightly lower profit margins in order to =
run
its servers on solar power. Green House Data, in contrast, claims that a
carefully chosen location combined with energy-conscious building =
techniques
allows it to run off wind power for less than the cost of a typical
datacenter's electric bill.

All told, the power from these renewable energy sources is competitively
priced relative to non-renewable sources and, perhaps more =
significantly,
its price and availability should remain relatively stable, simplifying
long-term planning for companies. Moving forward, it's difficult to =
imagine
any of these factors changing. The success of companies like Google and
Amazon, and the continued emphasis on cloud computing means that =
datacenter
expansion is unlikely to slow down any time soon. And the companies that
build datacenters are likely to make stable and cheap energy a major =
focus
of their construction decisions.

In the absence of federal action on carbon emissions, many states are
enacting climate plans and attempting to increase the use of renewable =
power
within their borders. If they can sell renewable power to their =
constituents
as providing additional economic development through its ability to =
attract
the high-tech sector, it may be easier to set these policies in motion.


-------------------------------------
To subscribe or unsubscribe send e-mail to [email protected]

These news items and comments are mine alone and do not necessarily =
reflect
those  of the CANARIE board or management.
-----------
[email protected]
[email protected]
web: www.canarie.ca/~bstarn
skype: pocketpro
blog: http://billstarnaud.blogspot.com/


_______________________________________________
news mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.canarie.ca/mailman/listinfo/news