Posted by Greenbang on March 13th, 2008
Two observations about the European Green IT Summit today, even though we’re not even there.
Well the first is that it’s happening - and that in our opinion is a very good thing. Well, it’s a very good thing, providing that a lot of people don’t get up on stage and say: “We must act now.”
Now then - some interesting but questionable and headline-hungry PR stats came through the digital letterbox today. The report, sent by on behalf of 1E, said:
“A worrying proportion of UK IT managers are still not feeling the pressure to reduce corporate power consumption and carbon emissions, according to new research from 1E, the specialist UK based provider of PC power management software for Windows environments.
The survey, commissioned by 1E, of 100 IT managers from enterprise organisations revealed that, despite growing pressure from business leaders, internal CSR teams and government legislation, around one third of respondents still feel zero pressure to reduce power consumption.
These findings are all the more surprising given that almost 90 per cent of respondents also claim to be aware of their employer’s broader environment policy. The fact that only 23% of IT managers surveyed by 1E have direct ownership of their corporate power bills explains this trend.”
Sorry, but Greenbang doesn’t buy that. We’ve got a some of the biggest names heading down to a place to talk about just that at this summit - the debate has moved on from six months ago 1E.
How many CEOs do you know who ignore rising costs of anything - fuel, labour or entertainment. Despite the results, we think they are wrong.
However - the Greenbang reader survey is on its way to completion (please fill it out if you haven’t yet done so.)
One thing it’s showing is that a large number of people who read and get jiggy with Greenbang are women. That really echoes something we’ve seen in the sustainability industry - sisters are sustaining it.
But the big names at this event contradict that. Look at the European Green IT Summit’s list of speakers - is it us or there just three women on the speakers’ list?
Posted by jumperhead on March 13th, 2008
What do you like on your rolls? Cheese? Ham? Or, if you’re Lady Penelope, Royce? What about OLEDs, the super efficient lighting devices that are set to replace illumination as we know it?
After four years and $13 million-worth of research, General Electric and GE Consumer & Industrial have come up with a way of printing OLEDs using a roll-to-roll process, similar to the way in which newspapers are printed - potentially knocking down the costs of the little blighters dramatically.
Not only does this mean cheaper OLEDs, or organic light-emitting diodes, it could potenitlaly be used to print solar photovoltaics. Here’s more:
“For businesses, architects, lighting designers and anyone interested in pushing the envelope to achieve increasingly energy-efficient lighting — and vastly expanded lighting design capabilities — today marks the day that viable, commercialized OLED lighting solutions are coming into view,” said Michael Petras, GE Consumer & Industrial’s Vice President of Electrical Distribution and Lighting. “We have more work to do before we can give customers access to GE-quality OLED solutions, but it’s now easier to envision OLEDs becoming another high-efficiency GE offering, like LEDs, fluorescent or halogen.”
The demonstration of a low-cost, roll-to-roll process for OLED lighting represents the successful completion of a four-year, $13 million research collaboration among GE Global Research, Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENER) and the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The goal of the collaboration was to demonstrate a cost-effective system for the mass production of organic electronics products such as flexible electronic paper displays, portable TV screens the size of posters, solar powered cells and high-efficiency lighting devices. […]
The development of this low cost roll-to-roll manufacturing process has the potential to eliminate the manufacturing hurdles that currently exist in preventing a more widespread adoption of high performance organic electronics technologies such as OLED lighting. The unique commercial equipment and technology needed to enable high performance-based organic electronics products does not currently exist. The few organic electronics products on the market today are made with more conventional batch processes and are relatively high cost. A roll-to-roll manufacturing infrastructure that enables high performance and low cost devices will allow a more widespread adoption of organic electronics products.
Posted by jumperhead on March 7th, 2008
Tracy Island still lives on in the memory of those who wanted to follow Blue Peter’s build-it-yourself-with-sticky-back-plastic ethos. Don’t go down Toys R Us, just get your hands dirty and get stuck in, the shiny eyed, clean limbed, big toothed presenters oozed from every pore.
Perhaps they’d like this news story. Instead of heading down to whatever the renewable energy equivalent of B&Q is, why not make a solar cell yourself, at home, with a printer.
This idea comes courtesy of Konarka Technologies, which has dreamt up Power Plastic, a material that converts light to energy, and has apparently conducted the first ever demonstration of making organic bulk heterojunction solar cells with inkjet printing.
How cool is that?
More details from Konarka:
Inkjet printing is a commonly used technique for controlled deposition of solutions of functional materials in specific locations on a substrate and can provide easy and fast deposition of polymer films over a large area. The demonstration confirms that organic solar cells can be processed with printing technologies with little or no loss compared to “clean room” semiconductor technologies such as spin coating. The most popular printing tool for organic electronics, inkjet printing could become a smart tool to manufacturer solar cells with multiple colors and patterns for lower power requirement products, like indoor or sensor applications. Inkjet printing is considered very promising because the polymer devices can be fabricated very easily because of the compatibility with various substrates and it does not require additional patterning.
Posted by jumperhead on March 6th, 2008
The consumer electronics industry must have a callous on its wrist from being slapped so much by the green lobby. And that callous is going to get even more calloused with the latest verdict from Greenpeace on consumer electronics’ performance: in short, a bit cobblers really.
As if you expected anything different.
Greenpeace took 37 products and analysed them against criteria including the substitution of hazardous chemical substances, energy efficiency and ‘recyclability and found that even the best products were still get half marks on the green scale.
If you were wondering what came out top on greenness, then wonder no more: it was the Sony Vaio TZ11 notebook, the Sony Ericsson T650i mobile phone and the Sony Ericsson P1i PDA. So know you know.
There was still a glory kick coming from Greenpeace amidst all the eco back-slapping. And here it is, reprinted for your reading pleasure:
“Since undertaking the survey we have already witnessed the arrival of greener products in the market, such as the Apple’s new laptop, the MacBook Air, and Nokia’s new phone, the Evolve,” said Yannick Vicaire Greenpeace International Toxics Campaigner. “Manufacturers still have a long way to go, but more and more are now taking the environmental impacts of their products seriously.
Posted by jumperhead on March 5th, 2008
Imaging having a shedload of tiny robots to do your bidding. A fabulous idea, is it not?
Now the Saudis have an idea to do precisely that, and have enlisted IBM to help them out. Rather than world domination, as tiny robots might be more suited to, Greenbang would argue, IBM and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology - the Saudi Arabian national research and development organisation - are launching a green nanotech lab.
IBM and Saudi engineers will work together on nano-science and nano-technology programs in the fields of solar energy, water desalination and petrochemical applications such as recyclable materials.
The pair said:
The first-of-its-kind agreement will enrich the know-how of Saudia Arabia’s scientific community and advance the Saudi government’s economic development and policy initiatives in the fields of alternative energy, water treatment and materials science. At the same time, it will advance IBM’s strategic interests in nanotechnology and environmental innovations, through access to the materials and technology created as a result of the agreement.
The joint research work in solar energy will include a focus on novel materials for the direct conversion of sunlight to electricity, known as photovoltaics. The water treatment research will focus on the use of new nano-membrane materials for reverse osmosis seawater desalination. The research on efficient organic catalysts builds on IBM’s advance materials expertise to develop novel synthetic methods for recycling of plastic materials.
Posted by jumperhead on February 26th, 2008
Hoorah. It looks like Apple and Nokia are not only scrapping it out for the title of ‘mobile phone daddy’, they’re also having the environmental equivalent of a thumb-war over recycling their end-of-life kit.
According to a veritable slew of reports, Apple has added iPod and mobile phone recycling to its range of recycling programs at no cost. No far, so blah right? Not so fast. Apparently, this is the first time Apple has agreed to recycle for gratis without consumers signing up to buy a replacement device. Nice one Apple.
Alas, if you’re trying to recycle your Mac, no freebies for you unless you pay or get yourself a new bit of hardware.
Meanwhile, Nokia is kicking off its first recycling initiative in Kenya, for good measure. Presumably while flashing the Remade and the Evolve while it’s about it.
Posted by jumperhead on February 22nd, 2008
There’s something unsettling about watching animals for too long, don’t you think? If Greenbang watches any of the higher apes for long enough, then she becomes convinced that they are actually planning a takeover of the world ending in our slavery. Too much Planet of the Apes as a child, Greenbang presumes.
Software giant Microsoft has however been developing systems to monitor Britain’s wildlife in general, in collaboration with scientists at the University of Oxford and the Freie Universität, Berlin. The system will be watching the seabird the Manx Shearwater in particular, and how flocks of the little blighters get affected by changes in their environment like pollution.
The birds will be tagged with RFID chips and wireless sensor networks will be put up in their burrows, sending information on the birds’ comings and goings, temperature, pressure, movement and weight back to scientists, while GPS will let the white-coated ones know where the Manxs have been at night, the dirty stopouts.
The idea behind the tech shenanigans is to get an idea of when things are going wrong with the species early on and step in to fix it.
Here’s more from the software people:
The team are now investigating how the technology can be used in a range of different sensitive ecosystems around the world, such as rainforests and cloud forests, to provide scientists with a much better understanding and an early warning system of how vulnerable species are responding to environmental change.
In this stage of the project on Skomer Island, which will be completed this summer, the team believes that insights already gained about the use of this new technology will enable them to gain a much more detailed understanding of Manx Shearwaters’ behaviour, and the effect of changes to the birds’ environment and their behaviour at an individual and population level. Also, it is expected to inform future development and uses of the technology to better monitor, understand and predict changes occurring in sensitive ecosystems around the world, such as rainforests.
Posted by jumperhead on February 21st, 2008
Cisco CEO John Chambers has been banging the gong on what tech companies should do to tackle climate change this week at the Connected Urban Development conference. And because he’s a man who likes to eat he’s own dog food (who doesn’t?), Cisco has been uniting with few cities around the world to come up with some efficient tech.
The cities in question are San Francisco, Amsterdam and Seoul, who’ve Cisco says all have mayors bang up for tackling green issues and have some tasty broadband networks.
Guess what they’ve been doing with them? Oh alright, Greenbang will tell you. Here’s the deets from Cisco:
• “The Connected Bus,” is a landmark prototype that was developed by Cisco and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority (SFMTA) to demonstrate an innovative way to make public transportation more green. The hybrid bus has a mobile hot spot that allows citizens to work while they ride; a Global Positioning System gives commuters updated status of bus routes and connections; LED displays provide information on emissions saved through public transit; and an automated system reduces the environmental impact of the bus through better maintenance. If deployed broadly throughout transit systems, the Connected Bus can significantly reduce carbon emissions in cities around the world.
• “Personal Travel Assistant (PTA),” is a pioneering service being developed by Cisco with input from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Currently being considered by the city of Seoul for pilot testing, PTA improves the transit experience within urban environments by empowering citizens to make more informed decisions on day-to-day transportation options based on schedule, financial and environmental implications. Accessible from any Web-based interface such as a mobile phone, PTA is the first service of its kind that provides green route options, integrates with other communication needs such as calendaring, and enables city agencies to predict and manage evolving citizen transportation needs more effectively.
• “Smart Work Centers,” an approach developed by Cisco and embraced by the city of Amsterdam, enables local residents to work in remote stations without having to travel into the heart of the city. The Smart Work Center concept is based on a combination of technology and services that deliver a true connected neighborhood experience: the innovative use of convergent video-voice-data technology solutions; the availability of onsite services such as child care centers, dining and banking; open public and exposition spaces; and flexible desk seating and meeting rooms.
Posted by jumperhead on February 21st, 2008
Greenbang likes analysts. They’re clever folk and, like silk worms, if you leave them alone for long enough, they come up with some really cool stuff. Just like Greenmonk, who’ve come up with the idea of “bit miles”.
Like food miles, bit miles would assign a ecological, social and economic footprint to IT, in order to get people to think about the environmental costs to their technology. Says Greenmonk, on its eponymous blog:
Bit miles thinking isn’t confined to IT. Any industry that involves needless transport of information that could be digitised should perhaps be subject to the dread Carbon Added Tax. We ship bits in all kinds of industries. Think of the music industry, so long addicted to the inventory of little plastic discs, black for most of the 20th century, iridescent for the end of the period. When Wired editor Chris Anderson first started looking at Long Tail businesses he didn’t have green thinking in mind. But by assiduously researching and laying out the economics of abundance through digitisation in his ground breaking book he could indirectly have done green lobbies a huge favour. A key Long Tail insight is that abundance doesn’t necessarily mean waste. When the inventory is digital it can be infinite.
Greenmonk goes so far as to call for the complete death of paper in the office, to be replaced by online wikis.
The more Greenbang thinks about the idea of bit miles, the more she likes it. Anything to stop vendors sending meaningless screeds of material and indigestible CDs gets Greenbang’s thumbs up.
Posted by jumperhead on February 14th, 2008
If you work in tech, it’s time to put on your smug hat. If you work in green tech, it’s time to put on your smug hat, smug jumpsuit and flashing ‘I’m smug’ light-up tie, for Bill Cobourn, global & U.S. technology leader and partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers says: “The growing demand for environmental products and services could translate into one of the biggest new markets in recent memory. Technology companies can exploit this opportunity to drive growth, but they must ensure their green initiatives are in line with their business strategy.”
And oddly enough, a lot of tech execs agree, with a survey by PWC finding that 40 percent of technology executives claim the green movement creates significant market opportunities for their companies. Lucky tech execs. Greenbang wonders what the other 60 percent think though?
According to the survey, 60 percent of technology manufacturers are developing green products and services, compared to only 33 percent of non-manufacturers.
Couldn’t be the same 60 percent could it? A very schizophrenic 60 percent? Of course not, why, that would be silly.
Here’s some more tech related gubbins from PWC’s report:
Technology manufacturers are taking aggressive steps to expand their portfolio of green products and services by pursuing energy efficiency, implementing designs that reduce or eliminate the use of hazardous materials, using recycled or recyclable materials, building products that last longer, and creating packaging that meets or exceeds global environmental standards. A growing focus on reducing the weight of products and improving their capacity for recycling is also helping manufacturers better address “end of life” issues such as the recovery and disposal of products that have run their course.
The green movement also presents software and service-oriented technology companies with sizeable growth opportunities. The need for green technology consulting services and software aimed at helping organizations conduct business virtually to reduce travel and thus the carbon footprint will increase substantially in the coming years.
“The pendulum swing towards green technology is unleashing a creative disruption within the global technology market. The pressure is on for companies to respond quickly, make the most of new opportunities and manage their own environmental risk,” added Cobourn.
