Virtualization is the future of computing and green IT

Everyone is talking about virtualization at the moment. Anything from Forbes to the security-specialized newspaper SC are writing about virtualization being the new trend after cloud computing. But what is the deal with it?

Virtualization offers great cost and efficiency benefits to IT systems. These benefits are quite lucrative and so companies should not be ignoring them. In very basic terms, virtualization allows you to simulate a computer on another computer. In that way, you can go as far as virtualizing an entire server farm on your home tablet

In effect, you can use several environments and cluster them together into a single piece of hardware. The concept is illustrated in the below diagram:

This video also illustrates the idea:


Practically, there are several business benefits to virtualization. The TalkTechToMe blog has provided an outline for these benefits. We shall explore a few of the benefits in more detail by using the technology of VMWare.

Firstly, virtualization offers cheap implementation. This benefit arises from the fact that the operating structure is united over several computers. Say, you own 5 servers. Classically, each server would require a a copy of the Windows Server operating system (or similar). Costs would be between $10,000 to $15,000 in fees. With a VMWare solution however, you only need one license and one practical server (that of VMWare) - all the rest is virtualized. This will also reduce your expenses on power and cooling.

The benefit of a virtualization also lies in the notion that everything is virtual. This might sound obvious, but the benefit is that, virtuality is much more flexible than reality. For example, you can virtually snapshot an entire computing system at any given moment and back it up. With virtualization software, this is easily implemented. You can snapshot a virtual system continuously and then go back in time to any step in the process and re-continue from there. It is very similar to Apple's TimeMachine for personal computers. In contrast, backing up real computers with even more computers is quite difficult. In addition, snapshots can also be duplicated and copied to any other system. This greatly reduces set-up time and increases the possibilities for quick expansion.

Furthermore, virtualization separates hardware and software. Mostly, hardware is linked to a single piece of software. An example for this are personal computers: there are Macs and there are Windows computers. Each come with their own operating system and neither of them can run the other. Through virtualization however, any operating system can be run on any hardware. Not only that, but virtualization allows to run multiple systems on one system. This makes your infrastructure simpler and much more efficient (see here).

These benefits show clear efficiency and cost advantages for businesses and the IT infrstructure. Though what makes this technology a green IT solution? Well, there are several eco-friendly factors that make this attractive. First, it is the requirement for less physical servers (the ratio here is roughly 10:1 in saving). This reduces the carbon footprint of a business. Secondly, the virtualization allows for usage of more resources of a single computer (in fact, up to 80% efficiency more!). Thirdly, there is an overall efficiency gain for processes and operations. Any gains in that area will somehow translate into a greener environment. Consequently, virtualization is a very green IT solution.

In conclusion, virtualization is an amazing green technology. It cuts costs, increases IT system efficiency and is more secure and expandable. This makes this technology something that any business should look at to increase its business position.

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Green IT for gettting closer to customers

So far this blog has been focused on how to bring green IT into businesses and how that will help management. If we shift our focus to consumers though, we also see some breakthrough green IT. We already know that managing relationship with customers (short CRM) is a key aspect for companies. Companies use software tools like Salesforce to manage the relationships with the customers.

Now, we want to illustrate that there are also some green IT aspects for CRM. It will however be boring to just look at who is the greenest CRM provider. In fact, we already know that Salesforce is not particularly green. The interesting aspect is that green technologies can be used to actually build new CRM methods. This allows companies to combine aspects of CRM and "greenness" to provide efficiency gains to both customers and companies itself.

So how can green technologies make CRM more interesting for companies?

There is a product out in the market called Automatic. It is a way for consumers to track the efficiency and driving styles of your car. In addition, it also provides safety features and fuel saving bonuses. To get an overview, here is an amazing product video describing Automatic:

Automatic is clearly targeted for customers as a product. However, the idea behind Automatic is that it can be a great technology for car companies as well. The technology would analyze the usage of consumer car and optimize efficiency. This data can be used by the car companies to detect problems about their cars and really optimize them on a whole new level. In turn, companies can offer more refined products which lead to higher customer satisfaction.

The greatest benefit though comes from the link between the way the customer behavior and how the car company can build a relationship from that. For instance, through providing an integrated tool like Automatic in the companies cars, the company could track the routes driven by the customer.

If the company, or the CRM tool, is able to predict where the customer is heading, like driving home from work, it could, for example, automatically suggest the customer to drive to the next gas station as gas is running low. The CRM tool would also have a reason for this suggestion. For example, it would know that the customer always has a rushed driving style in the mornings, so it would be more convenient to drive to the gas station today, instead of tomorrow morning. In conclusion, the CRM increases interaction between the car and the customer behavior.

In much the same way, the Nest Thermostat is a similar starting point for new CRM technologies. Nest is a self-learning thermostat which adapts heating in your house to your lifestyle. As before, easiest explained with a video:

Nest collects data about your habits and your environment. It then uses and processes that data to introduce a smart heating plan to your home. While this is obviously beneficial to customers, for saving money and have a working heating plan, companies still fail to see the opportunity for them to actually provide such a CRM technology. As with Nest, energy companies could collect data and precisely estimate the demands for heating oil up to the minute of the day. This is a proposition for them. It not only provides resource efficiency but it allows companies to interact with the customers to meet their demands.

With these two examples it becomes evident that consumer technologies for green IT are a great CRM starting point for companies to improve customer relations and expand business propositions.

Benefits therefore are:

• Building customer relationships
• Ability to analyze products and offer more product refinements
• Analyze customer behavior to offer new products
• Meet customer demands more clearly

Challenges are however the building of such a CRM tool. Companies are already collecting data from customers in industries such as social networks and e-commerce. Especially for non-internet industries however, there is a great opportunity for business to expand to. The overwhelming new approach to managing a business,  is probably why companies have not fully shifted to using such technologies. It is a completely new business model approach from product-oriented to consumer-oriented marketing. Nevertheless, the challenges can be overcome. Why? If these CRM technologies works for the consumer market through third-party providers, there is really no reason why first-party providers can not also enter these markets.

Clearly, these technologies have great benefits for both consumers and companies. They offer incredible new possibilities for companies to go into CRM in ways that go beyond the average e-commerce tracking or targeted Google ads. Great technologies are to come here and Yashilife will keep you updated.

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Strategic Sustainability for Product Design - LCA

"Going green has become a necessity, not an option, for companies facing the new reality of balancing business objectives with dwindling environmental resources. Limited energy supply and skyrocketing costs are compelling organisations to take radical measures to reduce their carbon footprint."

- Sanjay Deshmukh, Area Vice President, Citrix, India Subcontinent


What is the current market trend in sustainable product design?

"Sustainable consumption" has become a growing trend for companies and consumers because of its numerous benefits. The concept of Product Longevity seeks to extend the life of a product through its design. Nowadays, companies are more aware of the practices used to increase their Eco-friendliness; this new trend will ensure the companies sustainability in the long run.

Product longevity

The main goals are to reduce chemical material, maximise energy efficiency during production and promoting recycling.

Life Cycle Assessment – Product design

Life cycle assessment enables designers to reduce their aggregate energy waste levels. Computer product design is a crucial element since it is during this phase in the manufacturing process that companies can reduce their overall costs. Moreover, computers can be designed in a manner that accelerates the "dis-assembly" method, facilitated the recycling process that is involved at the end of the product life cycle.

What’s in it for companies?

By increasing the expected lifetime of their products, companies could increase their overall market share and position themselves as a "premium" product producer. Consequently, consumers will value the expected longer product lifetime. Moreover, companies can increase their current market shares by promoting “value for money, not cheapest price”.

Sony - Wandular Project

Sony developed new methods to counteract the threat of resource scarcity that many companies face in the current economy. One of Sony's main projects, "wandular", focuses on increasing product longevity. Head of Design Rodrigo Bautisa said, "Wandular is about making technology more human and mitigating consumer behaviour for wanting new stuff through the use of emotionally durable design and cloud service trend". Hopefully, this project will result in a decrease in consumption and an increase in production contributing towards improving and decreasing the negative effects on our society and ecosystems. The computer manufacturing process accounts for most of the natural resources used in the life cycle of a computer. By improving the manufacturing process, companies will be able to reduce cost whilst also reducing in the long term their carbon footprint levels.


Sources

"Life Cycle Assessment." Life Cycle Assessment. Department of Ecology , 10 Mar. 2010. Web. 28 Nov. 2013. <https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/p
Chen, Yuh-Shyan . "Green Computing."Green Computing. National Taipei University , n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. <http://www.csie.ntpu.edu.tw/~yschen/course/2011-1/Green-ICT/Chapter%2011.pdf>.
Sarwar, Muhammad . "Green Computing: From Current to Future Trends ." Green Computing: From Current to Future Trends . N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. <http://www.waset.org/journals/waset/v63/v63-105.pdf>.
"Sony explores futuristic ideas on product longevity." edie.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. <http://www.edie.net/news/5/Sony-explores-futuristic-ideas-on-product-longevity/22738/>.

Algorithmic efficiency is key in green IT

Today's world of IT relies on software as the key aspect which makes it powerful, adaptable and interesting. All of this software is programmed by engineers who have developed a way to make sure that whatever you do on the computer gets translated into electrical signals and put into action. The more the efficient software is, the less electricity we use and the more green our IT becomes.

One of the aspects of software efficiency is algorithmic efficiency. It sounds more difficult than it is. Lets break this down with a metaphor. Say you take a Taxi to the airport. If you have an experienced and good driver, he will take the shortest and quickest route. If you have a bad driver, he will take a longer route. In the same way, software can be programmed with algorithms that work fast and efficiently or algorithms which are slow and inefficient. Good software is algorithmic efficient.

Lets take Google: two searches produce about the same amount of emissions as boiling a kettle of water. Although Google is probably very efficient in its algorithms, it could reduce the emissions by trying even harder.

One technology that is noteworthy in light of algorithmic efficiency is Hadoop. Hadoop is a highly efficient software project aimed at big data. Big data is obviously a great trend at the moment and the more efficiently we can use it, the greener and better. Without getting into the details of Hadoop, the concept is to be more efficient with algorithms. This video of IBM provides an overview:

Especially for companies in the data business (such as social networks or data storage) this is a very lucrative business proposition. It provides greater efficiency in retrieving and using data and thereby yields two benefits that interest managers: cost-saving and efficient resource allocation.

The difficulty here is that Hadoop is fundamentally very different from other software structures and would require businesses to completely change their IT systems (at least on a software level). A risk is also that if companies were to switch, they might be unfamiliar with the new system or have difficulty to maintain it. This is why cloud providers, like IBM, have specialized in providing Hadoop solutions.

Hadoop is a classic example of algorithmic efficiency and, or similar solutions, should be considered by all software businesses. It will not only make your software more green, but it also makes it more resource efficient (therefore requiring less servers) and quicker (increased consumer satisfaction). Algorithmic efficiency is therefore key in green IT and one of the most interesting technological trends out there.

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Making data centers and server rooms more green

Data centers are very inefficient in their nature and require huge amounts of energy. It is therefore of essence to try and make data centers itself very efficient. Emerson, a company specializing in setting up data centers, is providing solutions to reduce these inefficiencies.

Emerson has developed a method called energy logic (introduced in a white paper) which traces the dissipation of energy and optimizes these negatives effects in a logical manner. The results speak for itself. The energy logic approach reduces the footprint of a data center by two thirds of floor space and cooling requirements by more than 40%. This is illustrated in the following diagram:

The solution reduces the number of servers by a huge amount and thereby saves space, costs and energy usage.

There are clear benefits to businesses who have data centers to implement this technology solution:

• Reduction in power, cooling and space. These three aspects are the key drivers that cause the high requirement for energy in a data center. By reducing these aspects, energy is saved and the entire data center becomes more green.
• Costs are saved as less servers are required for the same amount of processing power. In addition, less cooling and space is required. These are great cost savings for a company.
• Consultation is a positive investment as it brings expert knowledge to a very complicated topic.

This technology approach already present in the business world and as a result there are no big challenges or serious risks associated in implementing this. It is certainly a cost issue in initially consulting a firm like Emerson to implement such solutions. If the data centers or server rooms are however set up in a proper way since the beginning, the costs will depreciate over a much longer time period.

A general problem with less servers is that each server is used more to maintain same processing capacity. This means that the servers might have to be upgraded to faster processors. This would be costly for a business and therefore difficult for management to implement.

Approaches like that provided by Emerson are basically an optimization of resource allocation. This is one of the pillars of green IT. Thus, a server room or data center is ideally not just a room of computers. It is a highly optimized room that builds the surroundings in such a way that output is maximized at both efficiency and processing power.

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The top 3 greenest and top 3 dirtiest cloud vendors

There is currently an intertwining trend between cloud computing and big data. More and more companies take a big data business model approach that focus on high-value customer relationships. This requires ever more storage space for data and a local server is barely enough. This is why demand for cloud computing, as the last resort for infinite data storage, has grown by almost 30% in 2013 alone.

The classic options for a cloud solution are Amazon, Google and Apple. In regards to green IT, Apple for example states that all its data centers are running with renewable energy. Amazon though, does not even report carbon emission numbers. This can be taken as a sign that they are not using green energy for their energy supply.

So to shed some light on who's green and who's not, here is a list of the top 3 green cloud vendors:

1. Google: As mentioned in one of our previous articles, Google's focus on green energy is high and they do try to use as minimal unclean energy for their services.
2. Rackspace: High focus on green energy as well. It is the leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the second year in a row. 
3.  HP: One of their business propositions is to provide green energy.

On the contrary, we have the bad boys in the industry:

1. Salesforce: They show no focus on green IT at all.
2. Oracle: "Green is not in Oracle's vocabulary" as experts have said.
3. Amazon: Amazon is actively using coal as one of its main energy sources.

The ratings are based on a scorecard system developed by Greenpeace to measure their "greeness" in cloud services.

While companies have great economic benefit in this fast growing sector, they have a unique opportunity and great responsibility to become more green. Managers have the decision power to influence this by always picking the provider which is more green. It is not about having to pay more, it is just about making the right decision.

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The energy need of Google, Apple and other tech giants

Tech giants like Google, Microsoft and Apple advertise renewable energies and the environment on their website. Is this because they are hugely dependent on energy or is this just a marketing campaign?

Recently, Google invested almost $80 million to build a gigantic solar plant. It will not only provide clean energy to the people around the area, but it also provides a reliable and clean source of energy for its data centers. These data centers require energy because they have a lot of power-sucking servers and air conditioning units. And cooling a huge warehouse to fridge temperatures (which is when computers work best), requires a lot of energy. The amount of energy required is overwhelming.

Companies like Apple are planning to move completely off-grid and produce their own energy. Apple in particular plans to use a green energy source for itself and use the normal power grid as backup. In that way, none of their 24/7 services and productions will come to a halt. Apple is even implementing innovative technologies in buildings so that natural ventilation is promoted and as efficient as an AC. That is break-through development to build a sustainable campus.

Looking at these two examples, it becomes evident that benefits of a energy source owned by the company itself include:

• Integrated energy production exactly matches production and service requirements. There is no power wasted and demand is always met.
• Optimization of the energy production to the business model means that the key requirement for reliability is met.
• Own energy sources are independent of energy price fluctuations and other market factors. They can also be continuously re-adapted to meet new business needs.
• Lower carbon emissions means lower tax rates and hence less costs. 
• Green energy sources, such as solar panels, require low maintenance and allow the company to focus on its core business (and not energy production).

It therefore makes sense for tech giants to invest in their own energy sources.

Obviously, not every tech company can have its own energy source. Certain economies of scale need to be achieved first before anything remotely similar to the examples above can be achieved. Nevertheless, even solar panels can be worth an investment. Even household consumers are already implementing them successfully.

The key takeaway here is though that the companies are not going for massive coal plants. They are going for solar panels and hydrogen cells. They require less maintenance, are independent of oil prices and are highly sustainable. For a company where energy production it is not its main focus, most of the green energy sources, anything from wind mills to dams, are ideal to produce its own energy.

In conclusion, to ultimately become fully green in IT requires a company to optimize every aspect of its IT structure. As outlined here, this starts with the green energy production and moves to optimization of every chip on a server.

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Microsoft’s Trial with Fuel Cell Energy

Microsoft experiments with methane-powered fuel cells are extremely fascinating. Without further a a due, lets get into the topic:

So what is Fuel Cell?

Fuel cell is a device that generate electricity through chemical reaction. Fuel cell has gained intrigue and popularity through its environmentally healthy benefits. Unlike fossil fuels the by products of fuel cells are just simply heat and water. The beauty of a fuel cell is the fact that the flow of chemicals is constant, this means that it never goes dead - as long as there is a flow of chemicals into the cell, the electricity flows out of the cell.

With a growing trend and consumer expectations for large companies to take more proactive steps for green efficiency, Microsoft has take the initiative and is building a data center in Cheyenne, Wyoming that will be powered by methane generated at a waste water treatment plant. Microsoft has also released a research paper indicating its plans to construct smaller methane fuel cells right in their server racks - essentially putting tiny power plants inside of the data centers. The Cheyenne data center will be powered by 300-kilowatt fuel cell located near the waste water plant, the new concept would use thousands of 10 to 20 kilowatt fuel cells.


Microsoft have claimed that this initiative could save about 20 percent of the cost of the data centre, but also argue that they win out because of reliability. The set-up would be based around multiple fuel cells, so there would be no single point of failure.

“Why this hasn’t been done before is that the fuel cell technology has evolved to the point that the power efficiency that would normally need a large turbine can now fit in a rack,” Sean James, a senior research program manager for Microsoft’s Global Foundation Services, told the magazine.

So with this exciting trial underway, it’s success or failure will undoubtedly pave the way for further improvements in green technology.

Ref:

http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/11/microsoft-fuel-cells/

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/alternative-fuels/fuel-cell1.htm

http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/microsoft-fuel-cell-data-centre-131728

The Smart Grid: Linking electricity with IT

There is little doubt of the impact that our increasing electricity usage has on the environment and to utility bills. Often, electrical companies are stretched thin when many consumers are drawing power at the same time (peak demand) and often rely on additional fossil fuels to assure this demand is met without issues. The advancement of IT systems has allowed the growth of the “smart grid” that links information and electrical infrastructures to optimize energy loads across the grid.

With the new technology, companies are able to receive live data transmitted from smart meters on homes and can regulate demand more smoothly. Better links in the grid allow for home owners to feed power back to the company when possible. For example, a battery storage source could be brought online if connected to the grid at home and then recharged at lower demand times. This possibility has become even more appealing to electric car owners who are even starting to receive reduced rates in some areas to charge their car at night and allow energy providers to use their stored battery during peak demand loads.



The smart grid also makes home power generation through solar panels or windmills more attractive with the possibility of selling additional power back to the grid. These features allow for better demand management of electrical power and show how new, live information can lead to great efficiency.

The smart grid is a blend between efficient software and IT. In this case, programming methods and algorithms are used efficiently to perfectly match demand and need. New technology provides the physical backbone. Green software can be seen as one of the constituent parts of green IT. It harnesses the power of information technologies and uses it for the benefit of being more green.

One company which provides smart grid solutions is Cisco.  It has grid architecture blocks that allow the building of such a smart grid. For energy companies like RWE or UK Power Networks these products are an interesting business value proposition to optimize their power networks. They get to benefit from:

• Reduced production costs. Energy can be stored locally more easily and end-users can input power into the network. This reduces the requirement to run expensive power plants. Therefore production costs are reduced.
• Less power dissipation. There is less energy dissipated as energy can be produced and stored locally and therefore has less travel distance. It is known that power is lost easily through long distance power grids. Overproduction of energy to compensate for dissipation therefore drops and revenues increase.
• Demand can be matched more closely. Prediction patterns can be traced to very high details through software similar to that developed by the University of Iowa. This allows correct calibration of energy production and yields the same benefits as above.

The difficulty with smart grids though is that it is hugely costly to implement. It is basically about digitizing something which has been analog for over a hundred years. This will take years for the energy companies to complete this. Additionally, currently it is just cheaper to produce dirty energy instead of investing in the smart grid to yield the benefits above.

The real benefits of this technology however reach the end consumers and businesses. They can save energy costs by up to 25% and therefore have great interest in this technology.

In general though, the smart grid is a novel green technology benefiting businesses and consumers at the same time.

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Top tips for how to make your iPhone battery last longer!

 
Now we will get practical from a consumer point: lets fix the problem of bad battery life on your iPhone (or even Samsung Galaxy). Getting your iPhone battery to last longer is actually quite easy and only requires a few simple steps and changes in your iOS 7.

The new iPhone 5S for example offers a mere 10 h talktime and internet. The problem in essence here is that your phone will not even last one day.

So lets start with the basics of battery saving:

• Update to the latest iOS. Usually this always includes optimizations in regards to battery life.
• Reduce brightness. Slightly reducing your brightness already helps a lot. Make sure you are at around 40% brightness on iOS 7 and have auto-brightness activated. 
• Use more Wifi instead of 3G/LTE.  Cellular takes a lot of energy and Wifi is much more friendly in that regard. Always join your local office network and possibly even turn data usage off while at the office. You do not need it if you have Wifi!
• Turn off Bluetooth if you do not need it. That's not just more secure, Bluetooth sucks your battery dry. 

 Now some more tips if your still craving for more battery life:

• Turn off a few iOS 7 features you do not need:
• Turn off Airdrop (unless you are sharing contacts daily)
• Do not use animated backgrounds
• Turn off Raise-iPhone-To-Talk for Siri
• Do not enable the auto-update feature. Especially if you are more on-the-go and never in a Wifi network.
• Limit push notifications. Do you really need Shazam and your favorite games to send you push notifications? No! Let Facebook, Whatsapp and mail apps keep pushing you notifications but the rest is just wasting your battery life.
• Do not keep heavy apps open all the time. If you have heavy apps like Skype, Spotify or Pandora installed, just close them if you do not use them. Especially apps which stream things or do VoIP, try to limit their usage and certainly avoid using them over 3G/LTE.
• Recalibrate your iPhone at least once a month. Use your iPhone and let it completely go dry. Then completely charge it in one go without interruptions. This will recalibrate the calculation for the battery life and hence become more accurate.

As a last resort: go into Airplane mode!

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The challenges of implementing green IT

Green IT is become one of the top priorities of CIOs and managers at companies. There are however several challenges that they face in implementing green IT. The challenges vary from difficulty in incorporating a green culture to the ever-growing demand of IT. What are these challenges?

According to Catherine Doran at Network Rail, one of the most important challenges is to incorporate a green culture that motivates the staff to play their part. Also, to consider environmental issues when designing and developing new systems. While this is arguably not easy, there are solutions that do not require a lot of effort. A notable example is the green printing solutions Yashilife looked at a few days ago.

For Steve Lamey at HMRC, it is crucial to influence hardware and infrastructure suppliers of IT equipment to reduce the costs across the entire supply chain. He argues that IT is estimated to contribute 2% of the world's CO2 emissions and its growing exponentially.

A recent study from Microsoft, shows that companies that run their applications in the cloud can reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions by 30% or more rather than running those applications on their own infrastructure.

Steve Wexler addresses the main challenge of Green IT when he explains that the most difficult issue is to establish a measurement and reporting format that accurately and fairly represents data center efficiency which can be easily compared to other data centers. This is currently presenting another challenge to cloud computing as the industry needs to establish agreements on what should be measured and how often.

It is expected that sooner or later every organization will go green, and cloud computing will play a major role in this.

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Now or never - Green Printing & Future

While green IT is mostly about bigger technologies, there are also small tools that can help a business, or even a consumer, to be more efficient and more green.

Nowadays, the average daily web user prints 28 pages daily, as a result 115 billion sheets of paper are used annually for personal computers. All these result in the high paper usage as a result cut of trees. For instance, the average American uses 18 cubic feet of wood and 749 pounds of paper - equal to a
100-foot tree with an 18-inch trunk. Each year and taking account that each tree provides enough oxygen for 3 people, we are literally "printing away the oxygen" of our children.

Most people consider that these facts are huge threat but they can not do anything to stop it, but indeed you can. Green Printing (GP) provides you opportunity to be the "superman" of the future.

GreenPrint is a software that helps you identify and eliminate print waste before it is printed, thereby dramatically reducing print volume as well as associated costs. In addition, this gadget measures print volume for both on- and off-network printers, identifies cost savings opportunities and enables better print management over time. Besides, GP enables you to use low cost printer options, so at the same time you can get both ecological and financial benefits .

If you are on the "right" side , then watch the link bellow and start printing greener:

Even a simple software solution like this can provide value to a company. Most notably, costs are being saved by reducing paper waste. This is breakthrough innovation on a remarkably simple level.

The benefits are clear: save costs and save time. You do not have to waste time trying to think how many pages you can save by printing double paged or which page you can skip because it is just advertising. This is done by the software automatically. As a result, less paper waste and costs saved there. This certainly helps the environment more than adding a "please consider the environment before printing" message at the bottom of every email.

This technology does not have any implementation problems, as shown in the video. It has a problem though. It does not get rid of the actual problem of people still printing.

Nevertheless, GreenPrint is a great technology that deserves its rightful spot in the world of green IT. Download and start using it!

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How Energy Control Systems Curb Emissions

While much of the focus on reducing environmental impact has been placed on converting to renewable energy sources, some have overlooked the importance that IT systems can play. Reducing impact by improving efficiencies is a more cost effective way of cutting emissions without requiring as much investment. In fact, correct power management is one of the most powerful tools that green IT has to offer. This alone makes green IT a number one reason for businesses and management to implement.

To be able to cut energy uses and achieve greater efficiency, one must know exactly the energy supply and demand of their system. This approach has created the need for IT systems that can show real time data and use it to forecast energy needs in the future.  Simply put, “you can’t manage what you can’t measure.”

At the University of Iowa, an Energy Control Center was created with IT systems that would allow the university to monitor their power plant production of steam, electricity, and chilled water and relate it to the demands of the buildings on campus. This central system allows weather forecasts and building energy levels to forecast how much energy production should be brought on or offline in the power plant.

The Control Center is not just a way to save money and energy, but also a learning tool that allows the public to access campus buildings’ energy usage at any given time. It is one demonstration of how many organizations around the world are looking to IT departments to help them become greener.

There are obviously some challenges to this approach. By predicting patterns, things become very aligned to usual procedures. If however anything out of the ordinary happens, problems could occur. Stronger storms or unexpected colder weather could threats like that.  Taking electricity produced through an atomic reactor as an example, if suddenly more energy is required, the reactor would require at least a day to increase production again to meet the demand. Usually, this results in blackouts until then. As with every challenge though, this only represents an opportunity to improve further.

Similar energy analytics software examples include ERACS and ZEUS. They provide the same benefits to businesses who have high energy usage: pattern analysis, need recognition and output optimization and suggestions.

In conclusion, energy control systems are a form of business intelligence and analysis. By learning from usage patterns one can reduce costs and optimize resource allocation. This is a great business value proposition, not just to energy producers, but also to companies that require a lot of energy. Analyzing and adapting leads to correct power management. In turn, this becomes a correct implementation of green IT.

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High in the sky: kites for electricity

Green IT, or IT in general, has one major problem: its power supply. Where is the energy source? Dirty coal or something more innovative? Maybe we should give kites a try:

The love affair between kites and electricity have gone back since the time of Benjamin Franklin‘s pioneering theory of electrical fluidity. Fast forward to the 21st century and latest innovations in green technology have utilized the power of the kite to generate electricity through wind power. Wind energy is the second largest renewable resource after solar energy.

The higher the altitude the higher the energy source. Wind at higher altitudes are a major source of renewable energy. Wind turbines can only span to 300ft in height, while kites can in fact fly much higher. The aerospace engineering department of the Technology University in Delft, have an altitude record of 9,740 meters. According to Roland Schmehl at TU in Delft : "With a 25 square meter sail like that we can produce enough energy to cover the needs of 40 households, with less environmental impact than a conventional windmill and at reduced costs," Kite wind generators are also cheaper to produce as they require less material.

The constant tugging of the kite against its tether creates a pumping motion, similar to a piston in a car’s engine. The action produces mechanical energy which can then be sent into the grid or stored in a battery.

With the growing need for renewable energy it is no wonder everyone wants a piece of the trend. Google acquired Makani a Kite Power Company this May 2013. This a good start for big companies like Google, to pave the way for sourcing cleaner energy to manage their large server farms.

Opportunities are being made in Advance Emerging Markets with the example of UK based start up - Kite Power Solutions, exploring opportunities in Brazil. They aim to launch their patented two kite wind generators to tap into two markets. First market being in mineral extraction where remote power is required using diesel generators and the second being offshore wind.

Wind power is definitely a key player in the world of renewable energy. Although Kite wind generators have a long way to go before it can be fully commercialized, this simple childhood toy presents a promising key to the future of renewable energy and our future.

The important key takeaway here is that while green IT needs to be implemented in businesses, it is also about the innovation for finding novel and new solutions to providing energy. After all, without electricity there is no IT at all.

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Why Green IT can be a competitive advantage for your company?

    

Throughout the last years, there have been many initiatives regarding business environment.

What's in it for you? 

Green IT can help your company increase its reputation and brand image. It is a clear competitive advantage in today’s business environment. This would increase sales as consumers are becoming more and more green oriented. Apart from this marketing effect, there are several internal effects that can have a huge benefit. Examples include: more efficient resource allocation, saving production costs or increased product longevity.

New technology - Cost saving benefits

IBM reports states that there are several initiatives for companies to participate in Green IT. For instance, it will be possible for your company to decrease electricity use, consumable use and expenses on hardware.

An example of green IT would be server room upgrades. By updating your server your company will be able to decrease energy costs and enhance effectiveness of cooling systems. Moreover, from an environmental point of view your company will be more efficient in terms of its use of energy watts, which enters the server room.

Furthermore, according to IBM “most of our carbon footprint – 50 or 60 percent of it – is cause by employee travel". The rise of fuel cost has made companies realised that they need to find new tools of communication. Companies have access to video conferencing and teleconferencing facilities, which reduces travel costs and meets employee satisfaction.

Using the examples from above, such as more efficient resource allocation, allows you to save costs. If you know that by using exact prediction models you can predict demand and supply, you can buy at the right moment and use exactly those resources needed. The necessity of storage space would therefore disappear.

We will look at how these benefits affect your business, in the coming articles on Yashilife.

The challenges

Obviously, new technologies will be a challenge to implement. There will be organizational and process changes and there will be resistance to them. It is therefore more than essential to understand the benefits that green technologies can offer and how that can positively influence your business model.

We are looking forward to keeping you informed about this interesting topic and let us engage you in the world of green IT as well. Please follow us on Twitter and Facebook as well.

· "IBM Says Green Spending Lets Companies Save Long Term | TechWeekEurope UK." TechWeekEurope UK | Enhancing business with technology - in association with eweek.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2013. <http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/news-it-infrastructure/ibm-says-green-spending-lets-companies-save-long-term-3021>.

· "Green IT in your company." . Ministry of science technology and innovation, n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2013. <www.digst.dk/Styring/~/media/Files/Styring/Groen%20it/Green%20IT%20in%20your%20company%20-%20ideas%20and%20inspiration%20for%2 >.

Why Green IT should be blogged about?

Following a year with record heats, multiple deadly hurricanes and typhoons, the environment is showing more and more its true colors and the effect of global warming. It is time that the environmental focus that has captured most of our industries, notably the car industry, shifts to the information technology world as well. This is why we have decided to create this blog, Yashil, to inform the world about the latest advancements in green IT and where there are still areas of great improvement.

It is worthy to start mentioning why green IT is actually important. In many ways, greener IT is linked to cleaner energy production. This however is another topic of heated discussion (see a very interesting short documentary by DeutscheWelle) and we would not like to focus on that. The focus is to make sure that the IT in itself becomes considerably more green. After all, our inefficient and high usage of IT just aggregate the demand for primary energy sources such as oil and electricity. This is why, greener IT is very important.

A study by McKinsey showed that big data centers, the massive backbone of our new economies like Facebook or Google, will produce more greenhouse gases by 2020 than the entire airline industry. Considering around 20 000 airplanes in the air at any given point in time and a per-airplane fuel consumption of 4 liters per second, we see the sheer size of the problem. IT, which is not green, will completely out-dwarf any industry we currently have. The inevitable conclusion is that our IT systems have to become a lot cleaner!

It is about finding high impact, cheap and novel solutions that keep our world comfortable but make IT much greener. All this has to play in tandem between being economical, environmental and social.

On the one hand, consumers have to become more conservative in their energy consumption. On the other hand, businesses and management also need to adopt an environment of greener IT. This goes from anything like saving costs to optimizing output. It is about managing power wisely, storing data securely and environmentally, efficiently managing processes and data and keeping up the great rate of technology advancements.

Green IT has to move to the business world and with Yashlife we will be exploring the advancements and concepts of that topic.

We are looking forward to keeping you informed about this interesting topic and let us engage you in the world of green IT as well. Please follow us on Twitter and Facebook as well.