Little Miss Enviro Geek : Climate Change

Some personal news...

biwirth — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:24:00 GMT

Hello Dear Blog Readers,

(hmmm....that kinda sounds like the beginning of one of those SPAM emails)

I wanted to let you all know I am moving on from Microsoft and shall no longer be blogging here. I'll be moving an archive of these posts to my website http://www.greenitstrategy.com and shall continue blogging there on Green IT.

So what will I be doing now?

Well, I have decided to take some time off, write a book and maybe look into starting my own business. Regardless, you can always catch me through my website and please do feel free to visit me there.

Thank you to everyone who contacted me with their Green IT questions over the past two years and gave me feedback. I really appreciate your support and good luck with your own Green IT initiatives.

Kind Regards,

Bianca AKA Little Miss Enviro Geek

WWF releases paper on teleworking, sponsored by Microsoft

biwirth — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 22:00:00 GMT

I am posting on April Fools Day but trust me when I say this post is not a joke! :)

The World Wildlife Fund (not World Wrestling Federation!) have released a new paper on the opportunities presented by teleworking and video conferencing.

In their opening statement, WWF state that they believe virtual meetings and telecommuting have the opportunity to to save more than 3 million tonnes of CO2 – equivalent to about half of the current US CO2 emissions. This paper extends on the WWF’s overall position on the top 10 ICT initiatives they propose would reduce the most carbon.

In their paper WWF propose four different scenarios modelled as “future worlds” which would present varied opportunities for carbon savings:

The key findings of the paper include:

Teleworking has the potential to deliver greater greenhouse gas (GHG) savings than virtual meetings
The Smart world scenario would achieve maximum benefits where IT, users and policy makers work together to deliver solutions + policies
A laptop with a webcam, wireless internet access & appropriate software represent the key technical requirement for teleworking

One of the most interesting insights, and something I see & hear from customers when I talk with them about teleworking, is that it isn’t necessarily the technology that inhibits these types of initiatives – its the organisational change and the cultural barriers. In the past two years the technology has matured and is lower cost than ever before – but some customers I speak with tell me their organisation just won’t ‘handle the change’. Typical concerns I hear for teleworking include:

Cultural attitude to work: e.g. ‘Mary isn’t working, she is sitting at home watching television / on a beach’.
Organisational change: e.g. training users to utilise the technologies appropriately.
Organisational policies: for example, ‘work hours being set between 9-5 - if you aren’t sitting down working during those times then its not acceptable’. There is obviously a need to be able to contact people during a set of work hours as most workers need to interact with other people and customers, however flexibility & the right internal policies can result in more work being done, not less. As pictured below, a study from the paper indicates increased productivity from virtual meetings:

If you are a visual person, supporting the paper is an interesting scenario & time-based calculator for some European & Asian areas and the US:

Overall the paper provides some good research for anyone planning a business case for teleworking and virtual meetings. Checkout the entire paper HERE and the planning calculator HERE.

Mr B's announcement on Environmental Sustainability @ MS

biwirth — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 06:38:16 GMT

OK so first I'll apologise for taking naptime on my blog for the past month+. I have no excuse other than perceived lack of time - you may send me to the principal for punishment. Speaking of the 'head', today our illustrious leader, Mr Ballmer, made some announcements on Environmental Sustainability in Microsoft.

First up: we have promised to reduce our emissions 30% per unit of revenue by 2012. Considering the Prime Minister of Australia could only manage a paltry 5% for the whole of Australia, I'd say our target it pretty <bleep> brilliant.

Second: he encouraged all employees on the things they can do to help meet this target:

Using IT to improve energy efficiency: check out our newly revised website www.microsoft.com/environment for information on reducing energy consumption using technology
Accelerating research on environmental sustainability: check out www.research.microsoft.com for our work in this area
Responsible environmental leadership: the 30% reduction will be achieved through things like building management, reducing air travel, optimising our supply chain, and investing in concentrated programs

Checkout the formal blog post from our E&S Team for more info: http://blogs.msdn.com/see/archive/2009/03/12/reducing-microsoft-s-carbon-footprint.aspx

Microsoft's Generation 4 Data Centers...and a bit of a divergence on supply chain green IT...

biwirth — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:56:00 GMT

So even though I am a Green IT freak I don't generally talk much about data centers - the main reason is because my background isn't in data centers - it is true I am an infrastructure person (not a developer) but I generally prefer to work on the business interpretation & high level systems architecture side of things than get down and dirty with server room designs and cooling efficiencies. This kind of makes me something of a traitor in some Green IT circles :)

So rather than talk un-credibly about data center design, I thought I'd point you to a great post by Mike Manos, head honcho for Microsoft's worldwide data centers, who has announced a very detailed plan of our Generation 4 data centers. The "eco" bits to watch out for in this post include:

Non-critical/geo redundant hardware needing lower (or no) infrastructure requirements i.e. cooling, UPS, chillers
Achievement of excellent PUE (power usage effectiveness) levels
Elimination of water

One of the other areas that Mike mentions in his post is the reduced environmental cost due to not having to build with concrete - Mike asks in the post how much carbon goes into making concrete? And the answer is about 5% of the world's total carbon emissions come from concrete! It mainly comes from portland cement (one of the major components of concrete which is produced through a highly energy intensive process) however there are companies innovating in this space to replace portland cement with a polymer and normal aggregate from other industries that consider it waste (e.g. slag from the iron industry) - if you're interested in this, check out e-crete. Gosh aren't I a little font of irrelevant knowledge.

There are also two other good links to visit while you trek the data center hike:

A good video posted to Soapbox which provides a simulation of gen 4 data center concept.
Christian Belady, power & cooling architect, and David Gauthier, data center architect, from Microsoft also posted a followup on Mike's announcement, outlining the infrastructure components and efficiencies from the plan Mike announced.

There is a hidden environmental impact that may not be immediately obvious from this data center design. Its one of the elements in a cradle to cradle scenario: when you account for carbon (or any other environmental element), you (try to) account for the entire lifecycle of a product (EPEAT is one standard which helps from an IT perspective to show you the impact of certified vendor's hardware overall lifecycle).

Back on the data centers, from a carbon perspective, the shipping of bulk loads versus shipping many small racks or individual servers is something that sometimes isn't thought about. However considering transport is one of the largest generators of carbon emissions (energy of course being the other major generator), you can reduce your own data center's carbon impact by buying and shipping in bulk - even if its not at the lofty levels of Microsoft containers.

I was at the Green Business conference in Melbourne last week and one of the freight companies, Linfox, talked about the fact that their trucks run empty about 30% of the time. This means their trucks are generating 30% extra carbon for no good reason. As such if IT could more efficiently plan and utilise the freighting schedules and ship in bulk rather than individual lots, the overall supply chain carbon will be reduced.

There is the question of course of where the data center components are being shipped from and to. One element here is asking suppliers to provide their own carbon impact statement for the hardware that you purchase for your data center. And that is probably no where near as easy as it sounds for a supplier - one good example is HP:

HP ship over 1 million products a day
Most of the assembly is performed in Asia while the largest proportion of sales are in Europe & America
They estimate over 2million tonnes of CO2e are generated annually from the supply chain, most of which are from international air freight and 25% from road transport/parcel freight (1/2 million tonnes). They aren't certain because there are so many suppliers they can't possibly drill down level after level of suppliers to gain an accurate figure.

However we will see an increase in the future in the requirement to measure the environmental impact of the entire supply chain, not just our own backyards. From my perspective this can't be achieved without partnership and collaboration of the involved parties.

As an example, what could be achieved if a hardware vendor and their shipping company enabled you to view their scheduled shipments, automatically correlate truck capacity to your order, and allow you to schedule your equipment to be delivered by both the lowest carbon method and at the lowest possible carbon impact (e.g. in a truck that normally would be empty)? Think of it like being able to pick your seat on an airplane flight - if there is capacity and that seat is free you can have it. Then add the element of automatic carbon calculation based on various factors like distance and shipping method (e.g. rail, truck), and put it in a nice GUI where you are able to easily pick and compare and you have a system that enables greater end-user control of carbon management from the supply chain (and not just for IT purposes).

I can't wait until some of these really intelligent, federated systems come into place in the future...yeah I've told you a million times before: I am geek...and totally proud of it.

Hey BTW: if I don't post to you again before Xmas, have a great one and an excellent new year!

References:

HP's Stats on Supply Chain carbon: http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/gcreport/energy/logistics.html

Get the Facts on Green IT

biwirth — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:36:58 GMT

I thought while I was sitting here in my pyjamas eating breakfast this morning I'd post a little facts blog (yes I have no life - or rather my life is so full of stuff I don't have time to blog any other time - so in pyjamas it is). Below are the top 5 facts per topic area - this great list was recently put together by our E&S team in corp...

The Products:

1. Windows Vista: According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) customers can save about $50 each year for every desktop computer equipped with the new software. Used widely, new power management tools in the Vista operating system could shave $500 million off the nation's energy bill and eliminate 3 million tons of global warming pollution.

2. Windows Server 2008: 10% more efficient on the same workload than previous versions

3. Virtualization: Virtualization can reduce energy use by up to 90%

4. Unified Communications: According to Forrester, UC can reduce travel from 10-30%

5. MS Data Centers: current data centers are 50% more efficient than those built 3 years ago.

Microsoft themselves:

1. Commuting: With this expansion of the Connectors, estimates suggest that Microsoft will eliminate annually 6,730,020 employee car miles and 6,387,550 pounds (or 3,194 tons) of carbon emissions.

2. Microsoft reduced its waste by 50% by moving to compostables. Microsoft becomes first US corporate campus to achieve Green Restaurant Certification for its cafeterias

3. New Microsoft buildings consume greater than 20 percent less energy than existing traditional buildings

4. Through the Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher programs, Microsoft provides low-cost software licenses to help extend the life of over 500,000 computers per year

5. Microsoft is a board member of Climate Savers Computing Initiative along with World Wildlife Fund, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and other software and IT companies, is committed to reducing the IT industry's carbon footprint by over 50 million tons a year

Our Customers:

1. Volvo: "Volvo IT estimates that just the Microsoft collaboration products alone save enough travel to eliminate 900 tons of carbon-dioxide emissions per month, and use of those tools is gradually increasing.

2. Continental: saved $65/PC/Year or 2Milliion a year by deploying vista with System Center

3. City of Porto: the city saved 504 reams of paper (11 trees per year) by moving their paper based cabinet meetings online.

4. The City of Miami can "expect to save $80,000 in power costs in the first year, with that number increasing to $190,000 by year four. Not only will this save us money, but it also will enable the city to do its part to reduce the impact on the environment-with the resulting power savings equivalent to a 355-ton reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in the first year alone."

5. Kentucky Department of Education: Reduce its physical server holdings by 60 percent (approximately 120 servers); Reduce data center space by 50 percent ;Reduce power usage by 25 percent

The Market:

1. The overall market for green IT services will peak at $4.8 billion in 2013, according to a new Forrester report, The Dawn of Green IT Services. It's a $500 million market for 2008, InfoWorld reports, but Forrester expects that spending on green IT services among enterprise users will grow by 60 percent annually over the next five years.

2. Servers typically run at far below their capacity and on average only utilize 5 to 15 percent of the actual CPU capabilities

3. A recent PC Pro Labs study, showed that 25% leave their computers running all weekend and 65% running a screen saver rather than sleep.

4. Energy costs are expected to be over 50% of an IT budget for a typical data center

5. According to The Climate Group in their Smart 2020 report, transformation in the way people and businesses use technology could reduce annual man-made global emissions by 15% by 2020 and deliver energy efficiency savings to global businesses of over $800 billion.

For more information, go to www.microsoft.com/environment.

For the first time in my life I finally signed a petition...c'mon Aussies

biwirth — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:25:22 GMT

So I don't usually sign petitions - don't ask me why its just one of those things I don't do in my life. I guess I doubt their effectiveness.

But today I turned that on its head - I decided to join 102,598 other Australians who have signed a petition (the goal is 110,000): its called the Climate Action Now campaign and its goal is to push our Prime Minister to set bigger targets and goals around climate change. The target is admirable and the number of other people who also signed up compelled me to do it - so I did it.

There is a strange looking chick on the page (her head definitely looks cut out and pasted on!) but I found that no reason to distrust the project! :)

If you are an Aussie and also feel so inclined to sign a petition on our future, check it out at https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/campaign.php?alias=ClimateActionNow.

Microsoft: Climate Change Policy

biwirth — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:43:05 GMT

Microsoft has released our Climate Change Policy - interesting but short...

"Microsoft recognizes that climate change is a serious challenge that requires a comprehensive and global response from all sectors of society.

To address it, we are committed to measuring, transparently reporting, and reducing the carbon footprint of our own operations. We are also pursuing opportunities with our partners to increase the energy efficiency of computing.

While energy efficiency is important, long-term solutions to climate change will require dramatic innovations to transition the world to a sustainable low-carbon economy while expanding the number of people who have access to electricity substantially. Microsoft believes software will play a key role in enabling this transformation. We are working to apply information technology innovation to help people and businesses around the world address climate change and protect the environment. We are also supporting research efforts on this topic being conducted by leading environmental groups, scientists, and governments around the world.

We see an important role for governments to provide the frameworks that spur the transition to a low-carbon economy, including:

Direct funding for basic research into renewable and sustainable low-carbon energy sources
Market-based mechanisms that are stable and predictable over the long-term and incent the private sector to invest in the transition to sustainable low-carbon energy sources and technologies
Regulatory systems that support innovation and eliminate barriers to the adoption of sustainable low-carbon technologies"