[CAnet - news] Can the Internet save the Planet

For more information on this item please visit my blog at 
http://green-broadband.blogspot.com/ or http://billstarnaud.blogspot.com
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[Some excerpts from excellent article in Information Week article. There are
also some excellent pointers to other resources on ICT and global warming --
BSA]

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=205601559&pg
no=1&queryText=



Solar arrays and wind farms grab all the green technology attention, but the
Internet is quietly providing ways to save energy.

By Richard Martin
InformationWeek
January 12, 2008 12:01 AM (From the January 14, 2008 issue)

Last October, environmentally conscious Netheads everywhere got some
excellent news. The pervasive use of broadband Internet connections and the
tools and practices they enable could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by
some 1 billion tons over the next decade, according to the American Consumer
Institute. Widespread adoption of broadband in the United States alone would
cut energy use by the equivalent of 11% of annual oil imports, the group
says.

Clearly, though, when it comes to energy use, the Web is both a crusader and
a culprit. Server farms and data centers burn mountains of CO2, much of it
to keep machines cool. But now a new crop of companies and thinkers is
trying to make the Internet "carbon neutral" and find ways to use Web-based
technologies to reduce worldwide energy consumption through
"demand-response" schemes that give energy consumers more direct control
over their energy use.

Internet-enabled capabilities like telecommuting, e-commerce,
teleconferencing, and distance learning that have been around for decades
are expected to play an increasing role in cutting energy
consumption--reducing air travel and the need for warehouses, trips to the
mall, and even malls themselves. The American Consumer Institute projects
that telecommuting alone will cut CO2 emissions by more than a half million
tons over the next decade. Overall, the Internet economy could help reduce
growth in greenhouse gas output by 67% over the next several years, the
study says, citing data from the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.

[..]
St. Arnaud believes that Internet companies can slow global warming in two
ways: by reducing the energy use of the routers and servers that make up the
Internet's backbone, and by "bits-and-bandwidth for carbon" trading schemes
that would provide incentives for individuals and companies to reduce their
carbon footprints in return for free or reduced-rate broadband connections
or downloadable music and films.

Legendary Silicon Valley investors like John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins and
Vinod Khosla, who made their fortunes from Internet-based technology, are
now focused on slowing global warming, channeling billions of dollars into
technologies such as solar power and wind farms. 

[..]
Couple the potential of Internet-related technologies with these investment
engines and the optimists among us might foresee a significant dent in the
energy crisis. But such pronouncements mask the inconvenient truth that the
Internet hogs a great deal of power, particularly for big server farms on
Google- and Amazon-like scales.

[..]



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