Last fall, I read an article about the large amount of energy consumed by computer data centers. The article also talked about new technologies for saving energy by making servers in data centers more efficient (like virtualization). Once I started reading about this stuff I couldn’t stop: save money and save the earth, nice. But as it turns out, greening computers is only half the story.
As I read more, I discovered a new wave of innovations that help businesses and consumers get a better handle on their energy consumption patterns. Kind of like going from “What energy bill?” to monitoring use and presenting it on a simple dashboard. Maybe if we know more about our energy consumption patterns we will better manage our energy use. I call this computerizing green, which means applying things like social networks, low-power wireless networking, and resource sensors to better track our energy use and enable incentive schemes that promote smart energy use.
So that’s the idea in a nutshell.
A blog about greening computers and computerizing green.
Filed under: Random, Uncategorized
