DOE Promoting Energy Efficiency in the Information Economy

DOE Promoting Energy Efficiency in the Information Economy

The Department of Energy is awarding $47 million to support the development of new technologies and knowhow aimed at improving energy efficiency in the information technology (IT) and communication technology sectors. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that 14 projects across the country will share in this award. Information technology and telecommunications are vital and rapidly growing sectors of our overall economy and will become even more central as the smart grid is deployed. As our country increasingly comes to rely on an information economy in sector after sector the underlying physical infrastructure that supports it, such as the data centers, networks, routers and so forth, is expected to continue to rapidly grow.

Google to Make Solar Mirrors

It appears that Google is getting ever deeper into the sun business. Stating that it is dissatisfied with the general lack of progress on achieving breakthroughs in green technology, the company wants to build better highly reflective and rugged mirrors — as well as the mirror substrate that the reflective surface is mounted on. By reflecting more light and more of the solar spectrum than ordinary mirrors these mirrors have the potential to reduce the cost of solar thermal systems by up to 25 per cent.

GREEN CLOUD UPDATE: EPA to Release Energy Star Rating System for Data Centers, AMD Introduces New Energy Efficient Chip, SAS To Build LEED Cloud Computing Facility

The GREEN CLOUD UPDATE, a regular feature that covers current news in the green cloud computing space looks at the following stories: The Environmental Protection Agency will announce Energy Star performance rating for data centers; Advanced Micro Devices introduces new Energy Efficient processor, designed for very dense data center environments; SAS to build USD 70 million cloud computing facility built according to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards for water and energy conservation.

World’s Greenest Data Center Opens in Frankfurt am Mein

In a milestone for green computing, Citi‘s newly completed 230,000 sq ft data center in Frankfurt am Mein, Germany became the world’s first such facility to earn the prestigious Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum rating. The environmentally-conscious building, designed by British architectural practice Arup Associates for Citi, has already been honored for its ground breaking eco-friendly design and now it has been awarded the most prestigious rating, the LEED Platinum rating.