ECN Blog

Energy News: More than a third of enterprise CIOs don't monitor their corporate energy use, according to an Economist Intelligence Unit report, commissioned by IBM. "Although concerns about energy efficiency and global warming are now high on the political agenda, the spotlight has not yet been turned onto the IT function," explains the UK's Computing news site. It's not clear what solutions IBM proposes for this issue. The full report is here; it adds, "Despite the current sense that little progress is being made, the IT function is well placed when it comes to reducing its environmental impact."

Energy News: DNA from salmon -- specifically, from the fish's sperm -- makes an excellent choice for building extra-bright, biodegradeable light-emitting diodes, researchers at the University of California / Riverside found. It sounds fishy but it's true. “DNA has certain optical properties that make it unique,” [Prof. Andrew] Steckl says. “It allows improvements in one to two orders of magnitude in terms of efficiency, light, brightness — because we can trap electrons longer. ... The more electrons we can keep around, the more photons we can generate,” which means brighter light. 

Op-Ed: There's a blog post over at CNET about an E85 Dodge Viper which is breaking speed records. They wrote, "More than doubling the horsepower probably had a big effect on the performance of the car, but the extra octane can't hurt. Ethanol also cuts down on the greenhouse gases from the tailpipe." Okay, but as a friend of mine who transplanted a Mustang 5.0 V8 into a Miata always says, "There's no replacement for displacement!" I'd like to know how E85 compares directly to 92/93 octane from ordinary gas stations. Use the comments form below.

Energy News: Two interesting stories today from eWeek: first, the Green Grid member companies signed a Department of Energy agreement for data center metrics; second, coverage of Energy Star director Andrew Fanara's declaration that volume servers are so obviously bad for the green agenda. For the first story, DOE officials said they'd like to see 10 percent efficiency improvements by 2011, and they'll make available resources from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In the second story, "Fanara said he's been talking to 'virtually all' of the major server makers and says they are all on board with the EPA as far as improving future versions of the products to make them more energy efficient." (Others say mainframes are coming back; how does that impact energy plans?)

Op-Ed: The full story isn't clear here, but it looks like a government crackdown on the very popular Alameda County Computer Recycling Center. For readers not in the Silicon Valley area, I can personally attest that ACCRC is a well-run, well-supported organization which does a valuable community service. So why would an EPA inspector harshly penalize them just for having disorganized paperwork? The moral here is, even if you're the technological equivalent to a saint, nobody is immune from bureaucracy. And although we go to great lengths here to remain objective, from what we can tell so far, it looks like the recycling center deserves your help.

Productive Product: Let's start by clarifying a vital point: this story is about solar power adapters for conventional PCs, not about "solar-powered PCs" per se.  You don't actually get a solar panel slapped to the side of your tower case; you get 86 pounds of schleppability.  But you also get to help save the planet and circumvent your local power company.

Lenovo, which acquired IBM's PC division, is the latest company to join the trend.  Their new ThinkCentre A61e is $399 after a rebate, runs on a mere 45 watts, and has EPEAT Gold certification. For solar power, Lenovo resells Advanced Energy Group's Solar-PowerPAC II.  The device uses a rolling cart and costs $1,229 plus $98 for shipping and handling.  So while it's feasible to make your money back, it's mainly for making an energy statement. Another version for 230-V markets is only $499, but it has one-third of the power capacity.

"It's really a little subjective in terms of what will be the benefit. But the device can power the PC and do it on a rather sustainable basis," said Carl McClellan, owner of Advanced Energy.  On the other hand, "We don't have that type of business where what I buy is obsolete when I leave the store," he noted.

A new version is due out in the first quarter of next year.  "This is not the magic bullet to power up the desktop PC, but it is a valid technical concept," he explained.

Lenovo isn't alone.  Hewlett-Packard began reselling the same device for point-of-sale computers in June, McClellan said.  Also, "Dell has not released yet, but they've got the equipment and completing their laboratory testing. I expect they'll be on board soon," probably within 30 days, McClellan said. Dell recently announced the OptiPlex 755 energy-efficient system but without mentioning the prospect of solar power.

A Dell spokesperson was not available for comment this afternoon.

It is also possible to build your own solar power system or to consider a flash-based solar computer.

What's your opinion of solar power for PCs?  Please comment using the form below.

Energy News: According to U.S. News & World Report, "Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the new chair of the National Governors Association, was in Washington this week to argue that state governments should be a driving force in reducing the nation's dependence on foreign oil and in fighting greenhouse gas emissions. ... Pawlenty appeared with Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman at the National Press Club to outline how states can advance 'smart energy' agendas, such as by setting energy efficiency goals for their own buildings and vehicle fleets. He has also said that states can take steps to encourage more funding for energy research and development." Not linked in the article is a new web page from the NGA devoted to clean energy. And there's one big outstanding question: with federal elections ahead, will the White House support or stand in the way of states' energy efficiency initiatives? That's for others to say; here in the EZ we believe that any clean energy discussion is healthy.

Energy News: There's a big dose of clean-energy straight talk over at Forbes.com from physicist and investor Mark Mills. He says there is plenty of room for smart investments into alternative energies, because there wasn't much of a bubble in the first place, nor was there a bubble 30 years ago when many of the same technologies were going to save us from Middle East oil. But what's changed lately? The world consumes a lot more energy; most of the growth in demand comes where alternatives can most readily play a role; and the digital age is fundamentally changing the tools of energy production, distribution and control, he argues.

Productive Products: Human harvesting. Algae pools. Wave power. Artificial tornados. Super kites. Tesla coils. The list reads like a high-tech version of the plagues that freed Moses' people in Egypt, but will these alternative energy concepts succeed or have the proverbial sea crash down on them? "True, many of the kookier-sounding concepts are still in deep development within large corporations, universities, and, of course, the garage. ... But projects that are further along are finding serious investors," explains BusinessWeek magazine. They also looked at the "traditional" alternative energies -- wind, solar, and ethanol.

Energy News: "Los Angeles and Pittsburgh provide examples of what to do — and not to do — about China's severe air pollution in the face of surging energy use from rapid economic growth," according to this AP report of U.S. and Chinese scientists' joint research. They added: "The study released Thursday compared the world's two biggest energy consumers, the United States and China. One of the most important lessons? It makes more sense to try to prevent pollution, rather than clean it up afterward." Also, "We're not saying we're the best example. We're saying, Learn from our experience, look at our successes, but also our failures," said Derek Vollmer, an associate program officer for the National Academy of Sciences, who oversaw the study. "But we have a longer history of dealing with air pollution." 

Productive Product: What of flying windmills and ultra, ultra, ultra-capacitors? Two such start-ups came to my attention today: SkyWindPower and EEStor (which doesn't have a web site). Both of these plans are real but of questionable science. In the first case, SkyWindPower, the idea is to build ultra-light energy conversion platforms which float high in the sky. Wind would rotate the turbines, doubling as propellers. How they'd get the power back to the ground is not clear. In the second case, EEStor, they're working on ultracapacitors of previously unreachable energy levels and charging speeds. The latest news from EEStor is a patent but there is a huge amount of industry skepticism about their claims.