(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Canadian researcher group GreenStar Network (www.greenstarnetwork.com) is working towards reducing the rising carbon emissions created by data centers worldwide through green powered technology.
The two-year project is funded by the Canadian Advanced Network and Research for Industry and Education, which strives to resolve the IT industry’s growing energy crisis.
While computers and servers currently account for two to eight percent of the world’s total energy consumption, the rapid growth of the IT industry could potentially bring this figure up to 20 percent in some countries by 2020.
What’s even more disconcerting is that a large portion of IT energy consumption stems from coal-fired energy, which is why researchers at the GreenStar Netwrok are developing a concept that would allow interconnected data centers located across the country to be completely green powered.
Many critics argue the unreliability of renewable energy sources because they are only available periodically and therefore unable to sustain a continous supply of power.
However, the GreenStar concept strives to power the data center network by locating available renewable sources around the country, as well as using always-on hydroelectric servers.
The organization is working on creating tools, protocols, procedures, and use cases for a growing network of ICT service providers that offer customers affordable green services.
The project, while relatively small, is being designed so that the concept can be adapted on a larger scale, ensuring that even the largest websites in the world could be reliably hosted nearly carbon-free and with uninterrupted service.
The researchers at GreenStar also hope to come up with a procedure where it can apply the concept to carbon markets, enabling companies in coal-powered regions to receive carbon credits for hosting data in Canadian data centers.
In related news, GE has partnered with a handful of venture capital firms, including Emerald Technology Ventures, Foundation Capital, KPCB and Rockport Capital, to build an ecologically-friendly power grid.
The GE Ecomagination Challenge is a $200 million innovation experiment that invites businesses, entrepreneurs, innovators and students share their ideas on how to get the most use out of renewable energy, maximize grid efficiency, and improve energy efficiency in homes and buildings.
No related posts.
