Tawanai

State of Telecom in Pakistan has a good post about telecom’s role in conserving energy and saving money.

Last year we saw Telenor and Warid vie in the media as the first one to install solar base stations. That was a start and the trend for green, renewable and more efficient solutions will continue. There is a lot more work to be done in the energy conservation and alternative reneable sources of energy for the technology and telecom industry. The infrastructure elements such as base stations consume significant energy and the data centers needed to run the IT operations are also major energy spenders. The infrastructure sharing idea promoted in Pakistan was also a good point in theory but its actual success has not been reported yet.

Typically, around half of the operating expenditure of a network company is spent on electricity, according to Ericsson. The proportion tends to be higher for operators in the developing world because their base-stations may be in remote areas, and therefore require diesel-fuelled generators. So the recent spike in energy prices has prompted operators to look for ways to cut costs.

The Economist ran a story about green telecom networks and ways to conserve energy in the telecom world. Good tips for saving energy from Economist.com include:

There are some relatively simple ways to reduce the energy consumption of a base-station. The first is to turn down the air-conditioning. Many mobile operators now run base-stations at a standard temperature of 35ºC, rather than the previous norm of 25-30ºC. Studies show that the higher temperature does not reduce the equipment’s reliability or life expectancy. “The biggest restriction is actually our technicians, who do not like going into the hut to work at 35 degrees,” says Andy MacLeod, Vodafone’s global networks director.

Operating at this temperature means ambient air can be used for cooling, even in hot countries. An air-filter is installed on one side of the cabin, and a fan is installed on the other, resulting in a steady flow of air. Vodafone plans to replace air-conditioning with this simpler approach, called “freecooling”, in the majority of its base-stations over the next three years, as part of a plan to reduce its carbon footprint by 50% between 2006 and 2020.

Conservation, Electricity, Energy, Environment, Green, Infrastructure Pakistan, telecom

Wired magazine has a good article on the 10 top green technology breakthroughs and stories in 2008. The list is below with my pick from the list shown in bold below:

10. THE ISLAND OF THE SOLAR
09. NEW MATERIALS CAGE CARBON
08. GREEN TECH LEGISLATION GETS REAL
07. THE CATALYST THAT COULD ENABLE SOLAR
06. PICKENS PLAN PUSHES POWER PLAYS INTO AMERICAN MAINSTREAM
05. SOLAR THERMAL PLANTS RETURN TO THE DESERTS
04. OBAMA PICKS A GREEN TECH EXPERT TO HEAD DOE
03. SOLAR CELL PRODUCTION GETS BIG, GIGA(WATT)BIG
02. PROJECT BETTER PLACE FINDS HOMES
01. CALERA’S GREEN CEMENT DEMO PLANT OPENS

Energy, Green top

Via Fast Company.

Vinod Khosla is pouring his own millions into science experiments to counter global warming — and to prove he’s the smartest guy in the Valley.

Over the past four years, Khosla has become the world’s foremost investor in environmental startups. He has committed an estimated $450 million of his personal fortune to financing 45 ethanol factories, solar-power parks, and makers of environmentally friendly lightbulbs, batteries, and automotive components. These investments have made him the most prominent of an increasingly rare breed, the so-called angel investors who put their own funds into the youngest of companies — including outfits that are pursuing the most innovative, but not yet commercially viable, approaches to serious problems such as global warming. It’s a kind of seed-stage investing that traditional venture funds have largely abandoned. And rightly so, Khosla says. “If somebody comes to you with a cold-fusion idea, you should not be funding it as an investor with other people’s money. Funding it, if they’re credible people, as a science experiment, as a hobby, is perfectly okay — as long as it’s your own money.”

Khosla’s green investing has made him something of a celebrity, mentioned in the media with the likes of mogul Richard Branson, former President Bill Clinton, Hollywood producer Stephen Bing, and General Motors chairman and CEO Richard Wagoner. I’ve known Khosla since his days as a recent immigrant from India more than two decades ago but hadn’t seen him in years until we met in his office in Menlo Park, California, earlier this year. Khosla Ventures is tucked away in an unprepossessing corner of a redwood complex of small offices. The decor is rental-furniture bland. The only reading set out for visitors is a four-month-old issue of National Geographic with a cover story on biofuels. Khosla’s own office is spare, with 15 large black-and-white photographs of his four children on the walls. For others in the firm, office dress is Silicon Valley casual — jeans, fleece vests, and running shoes — but Khosla arrives more elegantly attired, in taupe slacks; a chocolate long-sleeve, zip-neck knit shirt; and slip-ons in luggage tan with leather bows and kilties. He’s 53, a slender 5-foot-10, genial and looking relaxed despite the prominent dark circles under his eyes.

Energy, Green, Investment

Abu Dhabi is hosting an international event: World Future Energy Summit. Top government officials, heads of global organisations, leading environmentalists and the largest international investors are meeting once again at the World Future Energy Summit, 19-21 January 2009, Abu Dhabi to discuss, debate and plan the world’s future energy. The Summit is the platform for policy decision making, investment and high-level business deals.

Prominent leaders and personalities are planning to attend.

• His Royal Highness Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange
• H.E. Abdulrahman Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Secretary-General, GCC 
• Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO, MASDAR, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company
• Ana Aguirre Zurutuza, Minister for Industry and Commerce, Basque Government
• Dan Arvizu, Director, National Renewable Energy Lab, USA
• Tony Blair, Former Prime Minister, UK
• Preston Chiaro, Chief Executive Energy, London, Rio Tinto
• Vivienne Cox, Chief Executive, BP Alternative Energy
• Henry Derwent, President and CEO, International Emissions Trading Association
• Ditlev Engel, CEO, Vestas
• Sigmar Gabriel, (representing Angela Merkel) Federal Minister for the Environment, Germany
• Prof. Herbert Girardet, Director of Programmes, World Future Council
• H.E. Connie Hedegaard, Minister for Climate and Energy, Denmark
• Dr. Susan Hockfield, President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Jean-Paul Jeanrenaud, Head of Business and Industry Policy, WWF International
• Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures
• Dr. Gerd Leipold, International Executive Director, Greenpeace International
• H.E. Moritz Leuenberger, Minister of Energy, Environment and Public Transport, Switzerland
• Dr. Frank Mastiaux, CEO. E.ON Climate and Renewables
• Esteban Morrás, CEO and Board Member, Accciona Energy
• Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• Andris Piebalgs, Commissioner for Energy, European Commission
• Kevin Parker, Managing Director – Global Head, Asset Management, Deutsche Bank
• Prof. Hermann Requardt, Chief Technology Officer, Siemens AG
• Dr. Hermann Scheer, President of EUROSOLAR, General Chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE), President of the International Parliamentary Forum on Renewable Energies; Member of the German Bundestag.

Energy, Events, Green, Investment