In October, Talkstandards.com hosted an open forum focused towards issues related to interoperability within European standardization and framed against the backdrop of the current EU activities. In addition to a series of expert keynote contributions (summarized below – please follow the links to access the articles in full) two exclusive interviews were conducted. The event can be found her: www.talkstandards.com/reforming-eu-standardization.
Posts Tagged ‘green ICT’
Summary: Reforming EU Standardization
Friday, October 15th, 2010Farmscaping- Saving the Planet and its Population
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
The solution to securing future food supply may be found in 30 story high greenhouses. Aside from potentially providing food for the world’s growing population, Vertical farming may also help save the environment. It is a great example of what technological innovation and intelligent solutions can accomplish.
ICT Standardisation and Climate Change
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
Standardisation of ICT solutions is an essential enabler for climate change. Whether it is for infrastructures supported by ICT (buildings, energy networks, logistics…) or ICT infrastructure itself (fixed and mobile networks, data centres, PC’s…and the various applications running on these…), interoperability of ICT products and services enable energy reduction in two ways: firstly by avoiding (or at least reducing) the need for development of interfaces between systems, which themselves require hardware to run, consuming unnecessary energy;
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We Are Spirits in a (Green) Material World
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
-The divergence between material standards and the ethereal world of ICT
We have standards for nearly everything in this green world of ours. There are Green Building Standards (LEED, Green Globes, BREEM, Energy Star, NAHB Green and ASHRAE 189 to name a few)
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ICT standardization as a requirement for use of ICT in combating climate change
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
Standardization work is essential to the credibility and scalability of Green IT, and thus for the ICT industry’s ambitions of supplying the world with solutions for combating climate change.
There is much focus today on smart grids. In Sweden, the Zigbee trials demonstrate the necessity for open standards because we want to keep our opportunities open for the new applications that might come. In order for such trials to be economically feasible there must be a perception that smart technology invented in one corner of the world may be used in other corners as well
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The CO2 Cutting Potential of ICT
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
At a time when Climate Control initiatives are getting embroiled in quotas and targets, it is remarkable that the ICT industry has stepped up to the challenge and begun to deliver genuine solutions that reduce CO2 emissions.
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ICT Standardization for Optimal Energy Use
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
Throughout the industrialized world legislation for greenhouse gas emissions is being, or will likely be enacted, over the coming years. These programs will introduce significant operational/financial cost impacts as well as opportunities for many industrial sectors.
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Standardization for a Better Environment
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
To stabilize and eventually reduce greenhouse gas emissions is an enormous challenge that will require many new technologies, behaviors and business practices . New standards will ensure that these technological systems work together well, and provide end-users with the information they need to make informed decisions. This short post describes a few of the environmental standards initiatives that have already begun.
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Peer to Peer Production of Energy and the Role of Standards
Thursday, December 17th, 2009G B Shaw said: The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
Much of the discussion around Smart Grids is ‘reasonable’. It is mostly oriented towards the existing infrastructure, with the assumption that the existing infrastructure will also have an important role to play in future.
This is a ‘reasonable’ perspective, but what if we were to be ‘unreasonable’? And therefore progressive and also disruptive in the words of GB Shaw?
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Recent Trends in Green ICT
Thursday, December 17th, 2009Building Automation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Building_automation)
Building automation is one of the latest trends in creating environmentally efficient ICT solutions. Put shortly, building automation is the process of creating an integrated, computerized and intelligent network of electronic devices within a building. As a result, the building can be monitored and controlled automatically, increasing efficiency in lighting, air conditioning, alarm systems etc.
The market for Building Automation System (BAS) is currently dominated by large actors such as, Honeywell, Siemens and Johnson Control; but these are increasingly pressured by upcoming smaller companies, e.g. Cimetrics and Adura Technologies, mainly due to their swift ability to adapt. http://www.greentechmedia.com/green-light/post/in-building-automation-a-quiet-giant-awakens/
More Building automation info: http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/a-green-building-market-overview/
PAS 2060- The new British Green ICT standard
In October, it was announced (www.bsigroup.com/PAS2060) that the British Standards Institute (BSI) that a new standard was being developed. The new PAS 2060, built upon existing ISO 14000 and PAS 2050 standards, is aimed at providing a consistent approach to assess carbon-neutrality claims. Currently, companies can ‘greenwash’ themselves by making false carbon-neutrality claims since the definition is anything but clear: “Carbon neutral means that – through a transparent process of calculating emissions, reducing those emissions and offsetting residual emissions – net carbon emissions equal zero”. (http://www.thegreenitreview.com/2009/10/carbon-neutrality-standard.html)
The BIS not only believes that PAS 2060 will reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also to encourage broader actions toward climate control and carbon reduction management. The draft was up for public review in November and is now being processed for publication.
A Vertical Solution to World Hunger
Even restrictive projections calculate that the world´s population will have grown by about 3 billion people to 2050; this will obviously stress the already pressured food supply. One possible solution to the problem is thought to be Vertical farming (http://www.verticalfarm.com/); Skyscraper greenhouses designed to grow crops.
Not only would such indoor farming bring the food closer to the people who eat it, but farming efficiency could be increased. However, this will require new, intelligent technological solutions that can effectively emulate a natural environment.
Smart Grid Trials Underway
Two major Smart grid trial projects have been launched in the US; the first in July (http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10291215-54.html) and now a second in November.
The most recent project has a funding of $1.6 billion in total, of which $620 million is stimulus funds from the DOE (http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10404375-54.html). The launched project will aim at developing communications in the grid by installing in-home energy displays, two way meters and sensors.
Europe’s first large scale urban trial of a Smart grid system is currently underway in Stockholm, Sweden (http://www.m2mmag.com/news/articles/article.aspx?ID=8060). Taking place in the new Stockholm Royal Seaport area, the project is a collaboration between Fortum (Sweden www.fortum.com), Espoo (Finland http://english.espoo.fi//default.asp?path=32373) and ABB (Switzerland www.abb.com) and is set to test the concept of a low-emission power network. Stockholm Royal Seaport is designed to become an ecologically sustainable district, providing housing for 10,000 families and 30,000 office spaces and implements the latest technology in eco-friendly transport, waste management and energy use.
Developments in Green ICT are moving fast, with new innovations continuously springing to surface. Below are some of these recent trends and progresses listed.
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