Green Comm Challenge

Green Communication Challenge is an organization founded and led by Francesco De Leo that actively promotes the development of energy conservation technology and practices in the field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Green Comm Challenge achieved worldwide notoriety in 2007, when it enlisted as one of the challengers in the 33rd edition of the America's Cup,[1] an effort meant to show how researchers, technologists and entrepreneurs from around the world can be brought together by an exciting vision: building the ultimate renewable energy machine, a competitive America’s Cup boat.

The Challenge

ICT is helping society become more energy efficient: think of the positive impact on CO2 emissions of telecommuting and ecommerce for example.[2][3] Computers are helping us design more energy efficient products. But there is little doubt that, while other industries strive to become more energy efficient, computers and networks themselves risk becoming the “energy hogs” of the future, unless something is done.

Powering the over 1 billion personal computers, the millions of corporate data centers, the over 4 billion fixed and mobile telephones and telecommunications networks around the world requires approximately 1.4 Petawatt-hr a year (1.4×1015 W-hr) of electricity,[4] approximately 8% of the global electrical energy produced in 2005. And consider that over 4 billion people around the world have never used a cell phone, almost three times as many as those who currently have access to one.

Some estimates project that the above percentage will grow to 15% by 2020,[4] but these projections may fail to take into account some of the disruptive trends we are witnessing today. Take Google for example: to power the over 75 billion searches performed in July 2009 the company needed an estimated one million servers, consuming an estimated 1.3 Terawatt-hr a year (1.3×1012 W-hr). The number of searches has grown over 60% between 2008 and 2009 alone.[5] It is no surprise that the company is planning to manage as many as 10 million servers in the future.[6]

The explosion of video on the net is another disruptive element. The Amesterdam Internet exchange (AMS-IX), which handles approximately 20% of Europe’s traffic, saw its aggregate data traffic increase from 1.75 Petabyte per day in November 2007 to an expected 4 Petabyte per day in November 2009.[7] Much of this rapid increase in traffic is driven by widespread use of voice and, in particular, video over the Internet.

Current efforts

Green Comm Challenge’s founders believe that defining a corollary to Moore’s Law is in order: increases in processor performance must be accompanied by a less-than proportional increase in energy consumption.

This, of course, is no easy undertaking. It will require a new engineering approach to designing computers, cell phones and networks. It will also require a new management culture, capable of recognizing the attractive ROIs that green technology can generate, in addition to being more sensitive to the environmental impact of management's decisions.

This is why Green Comm has fully embraced the ICT energy-efficiency challenge by establishing an interdisciplinary approach that involves some of the most innovative thinkers around the world. We are currently involved in the following four initiatives:

References

  1. 1 2 33rd Americas Cup roster
  2. ↑ Carnegie Mellon Study Finds Shopping Online Results in Less Environmental Impact
  3. ↑ World Wildlife Fund Looks at Telecommuting as Carbon Emissions Solution
  4. 1 2 Mobile networks to be reworked for energy efficiency
  5. ↑ Global Search Market Draws More than 100 Billion Searches per Month
  6. ↑ Google Envisions 10 Million Servers
  7. ↑ AMS-IX Report 2008 Page 23

External links

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