News of Green, Mobile, IT and Data Centre Technology - at eWEEK Europe UK
Company + Energy + Efficient
D-Link Switched On To Energy Efficiency
[...] In a new website outlining its green initiatives, D-Link officials talk about the ways the company is saving energy, including protecting the environment from harmful substances and using recyclable packaging to reduce the amount of waste. There also is an overview of the company's energy-efficient products. [...] D-Link offers a host of energy-efficient switches and other products that are part of its D-Link Green Technology initiative. The company also has energy-saving Wi-Fi routers, NAS (network-attached storage) devices, and Internet-enabled digital photo frames. [...] In a message on the company's website, John Lee, chairman of D-Link's board of directors, said the company's efforts at energy efficiency are aimed at how the company operates as well as the products it sells. [...]
Lenovo Develops New “Green” Desktop
[...] The ThinkCentre M58e, intended for large and midmarket companies, combines all the technologies of the A58 with green features that meet Energy Star 5.0 specifications, which go into effect on 1 July. [...] Lenovo has developed two new desktops - one of which the company is touting as energy efficient. [...] Select EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) Gold-rated M58e models offer improved energy efficiency, which in large deployments can offer accumulating savings. Combined with a ThinkVision L1940pW monitor, the new system can save businesses about $40 (£29) a year over other Lenovo desktop and monitor offerings, the company said. [...]
Nokia Trying To Charge Mobiles From Radio Waves
[...] Even if you are only getting microwatts, you can still harvest energy, provided your circuit is not using more power than it's receiving, Rouvala told Technology Review. [...] Now, Nokia researchers are looking to increase the range of frequencies these devices can draw power from in order to increase the amount of energy they can collect. Researchers are now looking at frequencies from 500MHz to 10GHz. [...] Nokia is not the only company making headlines about new types of energy efficient technology. On June 10, Google and some partners announced that they are closer to developing new types of renewable energy that are cheaper than coal. Google plans on developing a system that uses this energy in a few years. [...]
Microsoft Builds Energy-Saving Data Centre
[...] He explained that traditionally a product group self-manages their own lab in an office building but the new facility is a centrally managed and more energy-efficient alternative. The opening of Redmond Ridge is a big milestone and represents a real transition point in the company's culture, said Bernard. [...] The company announced this week that the new site, dubbed Redmond Ridge 1, is designed to move servers used for software development and testing out of the Redmond campus into a more energy efficient facility which it says will help it cut its carbon emissions by up to 12,000 metric tons a year. [...] Microsoft has announced that it is building a new energy efficient computing lab away from its main Redmond campus which should help the IT giant cut its carbon emissions but has also meant a shift in how software development teams work. [...]
Rackable Cleared To Buy SGI
[...] Rackable makes energy-efficient industry-standard servers and storage systems for midsize and enterprise compute environments. The company's European head spoke to eWEEK about its strategy and environmental plans. [...] whether that be powering the Internet, exploration of natural resources, meteorological modeling, enabling financial markets, and assisting government and security agencies, Barrenechea wrote. The resulting company will have complementary, yet highly differentiated product lines and expanded service offerings, reaching commercial, government and scientific sectors. [...] Rackable announced April 1 that it was buying SGI, when Barrenechea said during a conference call that the deal would help make Rackable a larger player in the HPC (high-performance computing) space. He also touted the research and development capabilities of a combined company around such areas as power, cooling, visualisation and shared storage. [...]
Samsung dedicates £2.4bn To Energy Efficiency
[...] South Korean technology company Samsung Electronics has announced that it plans to set aside around £2.4bn to overhaul its manufacturing processes and products produced to make them more energy efficient and sustainable. [...] The announcement, made this week, includes a commitment to try and cut the greenhouse gas emissions at the company's manufacturing sites by around 50 percent by 2013. The focus on improving the sustainability of its manufacturing facilities will account for around £1bn of the total financial commitment to efficiency. [...] Samsung recently climbed to second place in the July 2009 version of the Guide To Greener Electronics published by environmental pressure group Greenpeace. Samsung holds its position in 2nd place and increases its score from 6.9 to 7.1, by committing to reduce its absolute emissions of greenhouse gases, despite growth in the company's sales, the report states. [...]
Cisco: Smart Grids Can Improve The World
[...] As part of the company's Sustainability Report 2009, released this week, Cisco chief executive John Chambers said that the smart grids can help make homes and buildings productive and energy efficient. Through Smart Grids we can securely manage energy on electrical grids, from generation to consumption, to make homes and buildings more productive and economical, he said. [...] Aside from security concerns around smart grids, energy companies have also voiced concerns about the amount of government investment that will be needed to help them upgrade their networks. In September, utility company bosses said the £6.5bn investment in smart infrastructure planned from 2010 to 2015, identified by energy regulator Ofgem, falls short of the funds needed to overhaul power networks to cope with renewables such as wind and solar. [...] Although Cisco is keen to characterise smart grids as secure Cisco Smart Grid solutions are one example of how energy can be managed with a high degree of security on electrical grids the company stated some experts have raised concerns about introducing more sophistication into energy networks. [...]
Cisco EnergyWise Targets Energy Efficient Buildings
[...] Using technology to help create more energy-efficient cities is one of 30 market adjacencies that Cisco chief, John Chambers said in a keynote speech on Monday the company will expand into in the coming year. [...] The Network Building Mediator is part of Cisco's larger EnergyWise push, designed to apply the company's technology to the growing problem of energy consumption and its related effect on the environment. [...] Cisco's Smart+Connected Communities initiative aims to use the company's technology and the Internet to tackle the need for sustainable energy, particularly as more people migrate to urban areas. Over the next three to five years, the world's population will continue to migrate toward cities and 3 billion people around the world will connect to the Internet, according to Wim Elfrink, chief globalisation officer and executive vice president of Cisco Services. [...]
IBM Announces New Green IT Plans
[...] We think this is the most comprehensive effort ever undertaken by a company intent on delivering green, energy efficient solutions to clients around the world, Rich Lechner, IBM's vice president of energy and environment, told eWEEK. [...] Scientists at IBM Research's Almaden lab in San Jose, Calif., are undertaking a multi-year research initiative around a new grid-scale, efficient, electrical energy storage network. The team plans to explore rechargeable Lithium/Air systems, which have the greatest energy density of all practical battery systems and are inherently safer than traditional Lithium/ion systems. [...] Two years ago we launched Project Big Green to help people be more efficient in their data centers, Lechner said. Since then we have been methodically expending the focus, knowing we need to optimise [all IT systems] for energy use across a broad physical infrastructure. [...]
Organisations Realising Real Savings From Virtualisation
[...] Even if companies could afford today's higher energy prices, the supply of electricity hasn't kept up with data center demand, said Don James, CEO of BEAR Data Systems, Inc. Organisations need solutions that significantly lower their power costs and reduce the impact their activities have on the environment. . [...] For example, storage provider NetApp last year received a rebate check amounting to $1.4 million (£855,000) from PG&E for its outstanding energy efficiencies used its new, green Sunnyvale data centre. [...] BEAR Data's solutions are being used by businesses of all sizes, who have reduced IT staffs and tight budgets because they offer more than just energy savings, the company said. By replacing old equipment with more efficient computing hardware and installing power management systems, companies are also benefitting from increased power, enhanced productivity and streamlined monitoring. [...]
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