Sustainable Development:
The Role of Information and
Communication Technology
Alexander Schatten www.schatten.info
Agenda
2
ICT supporting
Mitigation
Adaptation
Information & Communication Technology –
Environmental “Footprint”
ICT – Environmental “Footprint”
“Green IT”
Resource Efficiency: “A Factor of 10”
Desktop Computing
Data-Centers and Services
Software as a Service
Cloud Computing
Accounting
“The rapid uptake of computers, mobile
phones and the Internet in the emerging
world is set to
double the industry's
CO2 emissions by 2020
, according to
the first comprehensive study on the
impact of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT) on
the world's climate.”
Euractiv.com, Study on Carbon Footprint of ICT sector
4
“To help, rather than hinder, the fight against climate
change, the ICT sector must
manage its own growing
impact
and continue to reduce emissions from data
centres, telecommunications networks and the
manufacture and use of its products”
Green IT – Numbers
$ 8-9 billion Estimated energy bills of datacenters worldwide
25% Typical IT budget for average company
~ $ 1.900 Annual expenses for powering and cooling single server (2500 $)
2 1/2 years Average time a typical company has to upgrade power and cooling facilities
Source: McKinsey and Company, part of a report titled "Revolutionizing Data Center Efficiency”,
InfoWorld, Ted Samson (2008)
Smart2020 Report
70-80% Utilisation of mainframes (70s, 80s)
~ 30% Of Servers run under 3% peak and average utilisation; actually are using power
and cooling for doing no work
50% Average energy consumption for cooling
76 MtCO2e Global datacenter footprint 2002
259 MtCO2e Global datacenter footprint 2020 (estimated)
18 Million Server 2002
The Power of “10”: Game Consoles
> 200 W
Playstation 3 Xbox 360~ 50 W
Playstation 2~ 20 W
Nintendo WiiThe Power of “10”: PCs
9
~ 2 W
OLPC / XOPC with LCD
~ 100-200 W
Photos from Flickr: Gene, Plutor, John Pastor, One Laptop per Child
~ 150-250 W
PC with CRTThin Client with LCD
~ 50 W
~ 10-45 W
“Hummer Strategy”
Photo from Paul Keleher, Flickr
Data-Centers and Services
11
… or Virtualisation, Cloud Computing
“Green IT”: Virtualisation and
In-House Services
Datacenter In-House
Replace Volume Servers with varying utilisation or low utilisation
with virtual machines running in one power-server
Remove Fat-Clients where not absolutely necessary and replace
them with thin-clients and web-applications or thin-clients using remote desktops
Provide support for tele-working (virtual private networks…)
Get consulting for “green” operation of data-center including issues
like:
– Optimizing Facilities
– Highest possible operation temperature
– Reuse of heat (e.g. for building/office heating)
Better: get rid of all services that can be outsourced (see following
What is Cloud Computing?
You get energy from a grid, not from your own power-plant
Cloud computing is the IT equivalent of the energy grid
Rent services and computing power as needed
Use Cloud Computing to scale as needed
Typical “Cloud” Services range from
– Operation of Virtual Servers (e.g. Amazon EC2)
– Network storage solutions (e.g. Amazon S3)
– Database Services (e.g. Amazon SimpleDB)
– Application Runtime Environments (e.g. Google AppEngine)
– Middleware Services (e.g. Amazon Message Queue)
– E-Commerce Applications (e.g. Payment Services)
– Various Services (e.g. Google Maps, Google Calendar, Office
Applications…)
Why is Cloud Computing better?
You pay what you use, not a
“theoretical” peak load
You do not need to operate complex IT
infrastructure which is most likely not your core business
Operation of large scale data-centers is way
more efficient than small scale installations
Load can be balanced over many
customers, hence servers in large data-centers can work at higher average
utilisation
Data-centers can be build in regions where
less cooling is needed and more renewable energy sources are available
Cloud Infrastructure (z.B. Hardware, Network...) Cloud Platform
(AppServer,Python...) (z.B. S3, SimpleDB) Cloud Storage (z.B. Queue Service, ...) Cloud Services Cloud Application 1
or Service
z.B. SaaS oder Webservice App 2 App 3 App 4
...
Web/Mobile -
Client ... Fat-Client
Service Consumer
Software as a Service
“Buzzword” in the 90s; did not take off then
Now a series of good applications are available, new services every
day
“Business” Applications like Salesforce CRM
Groupware Communication Tools – Webmail – Chat-Applications – Forum – Wiki Office Applications
– Google Docs, Calendar, Sites
Example: CRM Salesforce
Current Issues with
Cloud Computing
No standardisation so far, hence vendor lock-in with currently
leading services from companies like Google or Amazon
– However first Open Source products appear like Eucalyptus
Whole SAAS, CC rather “young”, i.e., not very much experience
available
Legal and privacy issues, particularly due to the fact that most
providers are located in US
– opportunity for European companies!)
Company IT-Policy –
Some Questions
Are there Guidelines for Operation and Office
Support (e.g., about printing, using PC…)
Is Tele-working an integral part of the
workflow?
How is accounting done?
Power Management Software installed
(for all PCs?)
Connection between server-cooling and
office-heating system?
Assessment of server utilisation done?
Virtualisation strategy within company?
Virtualisation strategy outside company?
Agenda
ICT supporting
Mitigation
Adaptation
Information & Communication Technology –
Environmental “Footprint”
IT as a Supporter for
Mitigation efforts
Green Supply Chains and E-Government – Think Global!
Smart Production
De-Materialisation
Smart Building
– “If airplanes were build like buildings, you wouldn't fly in them”,
Stephen Selkowitz”, LBNL
Smart Grids
“Although the ICT sector’s own emissions will rise as global demand for products and services increases, these are estimated to be five times less than the emissions that can be reduced through the
“enabling effect.”, Smart 2020 Report
Possible Contributions in Different
Fields (Smart 2020 Report)
Green Supply Chains:
Example Indonesia
The World Bank:
– A number of environmental problems are threatening the country's
environmental sustainability, foremost among them being a rapid and generally unsustainable rate of natural resource exploitation.
– Areas of particular concern include forests and fisheries.
– One problem is the lack of transparency in the processes
controlling access to such resources.
– Other problems include weak natural resource governance, poor
institutional coordination, limited monitoring of natural resources and environmental quality parameters.
– [...] limited coordination among ministries and agencies at
national and local levels
– Furthermore, the recent decentralization process has created
Example Indonesia:
The Economist (2006)
Indonesia is losing almost 2m hectares of
forest a year (an area about the size of Wales or Massachusetts)
Illegal logging also carries big costs for
the human beings involved.
Well-managed forests continue to provide wood, and therefore revenue,
indefinitely. But those that have been
overexploited, or simply carelessly run let alone razed will yield little or no money in the future.
The government of Indonesia (which has
the world's third-biggest tropical forests, after Brazil and Congo, but the biggest timber trade) estimated its annual losses
at around $3 billion. [due to illegal
The Flat World
Thomas Friedman, ”The world is flat”
We move(d) from
– Command and Control to
– Collaborate and Connect Economy/Society
3 Billion people reach for the western lifestyle
– It is impossible to fulfil this demand with the current approach
Economy, knowledge, work-force, natural-resources are global
In a flat world and a connected
economy there are hardly local
problems
Any significant
problem in a country
like Indonesia, India,
China…
is immediately a global
problem.
“Green” Global Supply Chains
“Measure and Connect” is foundation for optimisation
– Technologies like
• RFID
• Event-based Systems
• Data-warehouses
“Tag and Track” items through whole supply chain
Work with (near) real-time data
Standardisation (usage of standardised protocols and practices)
Integrate with e-Government applications to enhance
transparency and better resource and waste management
Check whether suppliers from second and third world countries
follow policies
Global optimisation of supply chains (from supplier to production
lines to transportation to customer)
New Environmental Policies
“We will not knowingly finance companies or projects that collude with or are knowingly engaged in illegal logging. As part of our due diligence where we are in a position to direct or influence such process, we will examine
whether clients that process, purchase, or trade wood products from high risk countries
(and we will encourage such clients to) have
certifiable systems in place to ensure that the
wood they process, purchase or trade comes from legal sources…”
Industrial Production
Industrial Production is one of the largest contributors to
global emissions (Smart 2020 report):
– approx 23% total emission in 2002
– Uses nearly 50% of global electrical power
Modernise development of production lines; software development,
simulation, data exchange is outdated compared to “business information systems”
End-to-end monitoring of production lines
ICT systems allow transparency
and accountability
Optimisations in motor systems
Integration into global
supply-chain optimisation
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“Dematerialisation”
Replace paper-based
business with electronic business
Online Media
Reduce business travel
Tele-Working
E-Commerce
E-Government
ICT Supporting Adaptation
Sensor Networks
Connected Information of global information systems
Support in case of catastrophes like
– robust dependable networks
– communication technology
– Visualisation
– Geographical information systems
Simulation and modeling adapted to certain regions e.g.
– Tourism prediction in Austria
– Water level rise
– Development of
agriculture
Agenda
ICT
supporting
Mitigation
Adaptation
Information & Communication Technology –
Environmental “Footprint”
Teaching and Public Awareness
Climate change, many environmental problems, resource depletion
are
– Global issues
– Highly connected systems
– Depending on many parameters and hence
– Very difficult to understand
Tools are needed to enhance the public awareness and the
systemic nature of such problems, particularly for – Teaching purpose
– Public awareness
– As political instrument
IT can provide experience in modeling, visualisation, game
development to provide such tools
Video-Game: “Makes you Think”
Game: “Operation Climate Control”
Conclusion
Despite of environmental impact of ICT, clever ICT strategies
can help to reduce much more emissions than it will produce
ICT Footprint: “direct” front-lines
– Efficient IT (Green IT)
– Target/Demand oriented IT (Cloud Computing, SAAS, ...)
– Dematerialisation effects
IT as enabler for efficiency measurements in other fields
– “Measure and Connect”
– “Green Supply Chains”: Global Optimisations,
E-Government
– Certified Processes
– Smart Houses, Grid Optimisations, Production
Automation, ...
ICT supporting Adaptation (sensor networks, environmental
monitoring, modelling...)
Dr. Alexander Schatten
Vienna University of Technology
Institute for Software Technology and
Interactive Systems
http://www.schatten.info