Time for the IT crowd to go green

Despite the many benefits they bring, society's growing dependence on computers is taking its toll on the environment, says Steve Nunn. In this week's Green Room, he calls for a "strategic shift" in mindsets to curb IT's growing impacts.

For most people, using complex technology has become a part of daily life. Yet many people do not seem to understand the green issues that arise from the increase in computing power.

In a world where cutting energy costs and achieving efficiencies are important to both households and companies, this situation has certainly emerged as a priority in boardrooms.

Unsurprisingly, it is the energy consumed by companies and their "data centres" that is causing the bulk of the power consumption.

As IT managers today grapple with trying to deliver value, boost efficiency and reduce costs, they now have to consider their green footprint too.

Consequently, there is a continual quest to identify ways in which these goals can be achieved - a quest which is currently driving the trend towards consolidating, streamlining and simplifying data centres
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Solar Energy…as Cheap as Growing Grass?

Doctors in various fields have been telling us that solar energy is the way to go. But, up until this point, changing our way of lives to using solar energy would have been too expensive for most of us to handle. Nanotechnology researchers are bringing about a revolution when it comes to solar energy, wanting every household to be a part of it.
California Institute of Technology professor Nate Lewis is helping bringing about the change. He's working on nanoscale materials that will mimic the makeup of grass and photosynthesis as a way to capture and store the energy of the sun.

Professor Lewis and his team are trying to find ways to put nanoparticles into things we need around the house, like paint on the walls and the roof tiles of the house.

Dr. Lewis says, "More energy from the sun hits the earth in an hour than all the energy consumed by human beings on our planet in an entire year. So, if we are going to find an efficient, environmentally-friendly substitute for fossil fuels, it makes sense to exploit the sun. Nanotechnology offers us a way, in principle, to make very cheap materials-like the paint you buy at Home Depot-act as solar cells and batteries."

This is very interesting, and the possibilities are seemingly endless. This ground-breaking technology could someday power our laptops, cell phones, and even our cars! This is something to think about folks.

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Eco house opens to public

Improvements included insulating the walls externally, fully insulating the loft and replacing windows with high performance double glazing in wooden frames.

The heating system was also fitted with the environment in mind, with a space and water heater, both fed by a large water thermal store tank.

This is maintained at a temperature of 45C by a combination of solar and heat pumps - costing £3,100.

Heat pumps are electrically powered compressors that extract heat from the local environment and concentrate it at the temperatures needed for heating. Normally this would work from a ground water source, but the Hammonds' system draws its heat from the nearby River Thames.

The couple also replaced large areas of the roof with solar panels above the south-facing side and rear of the kitchen - at a cost of £3,600.

Mr Hammond said it would be unrealistic to expect people to do all the work in one go as he had.

He said: "It is expensive, but if people carry out little jobs when they are doing work, they can do it bit by bit. The savings you make in the long run far outweigh the cost of the work, provided you have it done by qualified builders."

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Ice withdrawal 'shatters record'

Arctic sea ice shrank to the smallest area on record this year, US scientists have confirmed.

The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said the minimum extent of 4.13 million sq km (1.59 million sq miles) was reached on 16 September.

The figure shatters all previous satellite surveys, including the previous record low of 5.32 million sq km measured in 2005.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the Northwest Passage was open.

The fabled Arctic shipping route from the Atlantic to the Pacific is normally ice-bound at some location throughout the year; but this year, ships have been able to complete an unimpeded navigation.
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