How to Build a Green Data Center
In 2009, Syracuse University,
in cooperation with IBM, opened
the Green Data Center (GDC) as a testbed for
efficient energy technologies. For instance, the GDC is completely off the
grid, generating its own electricity from natural-gas fired turbines, the waste
from which is used to heat and cool the facility. In 2010, IBM and Syracuse University will establish the GDC Analysis and
Design Center to offer research and analysis
services to other data centers wishing to build new energy efficient
facilities.
How to Green an Existing Data Center
For existing data centers, in 2009 Sentilla (Redwood City, Calif.)
began beta-testing its Sentilla
Energy Manager software that can retrofit existing data
centers to
reap up to 40 percent savings in energy. The suite of IT management
routines
track and rectify errant energy usage with a web-based dashboard that
shows
exactly where energy is being wasted. In 2010, Sentilla predicts its
customer
base will grow by 10-fold, helping some of the biggest data centers in
both the
U.S. and Europe reduce their energy footprint.
Stirling Engine Powers SunCatcher
In 2009, a spin-off of the
Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories--Stirling
Energy Systems--proved the concept behind
concentrating the suns' rays into the combustion chamber of a Stirling engine driving an electricity
generator. In 2010, the first 1,600-megawatt SunCatcher facility will go online
for the San Diego California Gas and Electric Utility. DoE estimates that an
11-square-mile farm of Stirling solar dishes could generate as much electricity as the
Hoover Dam.
Osmosis Harnesses Ocean Power
In
2009, the world's
first osmotic power plant went online at Statkraft (Oslo, Norway) enabled by Energy Recovery (San Leandro, Calif.) which re-engineered its
desalination pressure exchangers to run in reverse. If the pilot plant proves
itself in 2010, Statkraft will begin replicating its plants worldwide,
potentially generating enough energy to satisfy up to 50 percent of Europe's needs.
Tree Power Harnessing Nature's Battery
In 2009, MIT proved the concept
behind "tree power"--namely that trees act like living batteries by
maintaining a pH difference between their inner trunk and the ground
that can
be harvested to power electronics. In 2010, the MIT spin-off company
Voltree Power (Canton, Mass.) will begin installing tree-powered
wireless sensor networks that supply information about the forest floor
to U.S.
Forest Service weather stations. The Forest Service operates 28,000
weather
stations in the United States.
