UK Government publishes a prospectus for its smart meter implementation programme

As I mentioned yesterday, along with its Annual Energy Statement the UK Government has published a prospectus for Smart Meters. Jointly produced by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and Ofgem (the UK’s electricity and gas market regulator), the ‘Smart Metering Implementation Programme – Prospectus’ can be found here.

As the prospectus points out, this is a huge programme, involving visits to 27 million homes and significant changes to the industry. Predicted benefits across the domestic and smaller non-domestic sectors are expected to be £17.8bn over the next twenty years and a net benefit of £7.2bn, mostly from reductions in energy consumption and cost savings in industry processes.

The document sets out proposals for how smart metering will be delivered, including design requirements, central communications, data management and the approach to rollout. Much of this is in the associated documents, including an updated impact assessments from DECC.

A key proposal is that within a home or business the smart meter installation will comprise smart meters for gas and electricity, a home area network to communicate between devices, and 'wide area network' equipment for communicating back to the supplier. Suppliers will also need to provide an in-home display of near real-time energy consumption information for consumers.

Full details are in the associated Statement of Design Requirements, which covers:

• A high-level list of requirements and functionalities. One aspect is the government’s view that a gas valve should be included in domestic meters that will enable remote enablement and disablement of supply.

 

• A proposal for the minimum information that should be displayed on the in-home display unit

• The need for open standards in the home area network.

• The proposal for the creation of a new central body to identify the most cost-effective solutions for smart metering data management and communications. ‘Given that communications technology is continuing to evolve we believe the wide area network communications module should be upgradable without the need for the meter to be exchanged.’

The document makes lots of detailed proposals on the design and delivery of a smart metering system - at this stage they are for consultation. Time is short to respond, though. Feedback on some of the key points is due by 28th September, with responses on the remaining, more detailed, aspects due by October 28th.  Full details are in the Prospectus.

The UK government has published what will be an annual statement on energy policy

The UK government yesterday published its first ever Annual Energy Statement.

The document sets out 32 actions of energy and climate change policy, although much of it has already been announced.  From an overall business/IT point of view the main points of interest (mainly for UK readers) are:

• Action 4: ‘Alongside this Statement, the Government and Ofgem (the UK’s electricity and gas market regulator) are together publishing a Prospectus for Smart Meters today’.

The document is here and will be of interest to all those ICT companies looking to get a slice of the action in the coming years. I’ll summarise the details shortly.

• Action 6: ‘We will keep the CRC under review and look at the future of Climate Change Agreements in order to ensure that we deliver significant improvements in energy efficiency with minimal complexity and policy overlap’.

In the detail, the paper says that ‘We will keep the operation of this scheme (CRC) under active review with a particular eye on simplifying it and ensuring it properly incentivises those
who do most to improve energy efficiency. We will aim to introduce changes ahead of the capped phase’.

The comment may well grab the attention of Intellect, the UK IT industry trade body. Intellect has consistently lobbied against the way the CRC is implemented because of its potential negative impact on the ICT sector, both financially and in reputations. Intellect has considered the establishment of a Climate Change Agreement (CCA) because a CCA allows an energy intensive industry sector to opt out of the CRC by negotiating its own carbon reduction targets. But with the CRC still likely to change and CCAs having an uncertain future (and the potential for reform of the Climate Change Levy - CCL) the long-term situation is still not clear.

• Action 8: ‘All 17 central Government Departments now have comprehensive plans in place to meet the 10% reduction target and all have a real-time energy display in place’.

This refers to the additional 10% reduction in emissions that the new government is looking for in its first 12 months in office. Having recently been involved in some research around green IT in the public sector IT, all I can say is that the IT operations had significant reservations about whether they could achieve this target.

• Action 15: ‘In the autumn, the Government will publish proposals to reform the Climate Change Levy in order to provide more certainty and support to the carbon price. Subject
to the outcome of that consultation, the Government intends to bring forward relevant legislation in Finance Bill 2011’.

The Climate Change Levy is basically a commercial energy tax. The CCAs (see above) can get significant discounts on CCL payments through achieving their own carbon reduction targets, so changes to the CCL with have an impact on CCAs.

• Action 16: ‘We are pressing for the EU to move from the current 20% target to a 30% target for GHG emission reductions by 2020’.

This is not new. The EU has proposed the higher target if other countries sign up to equally ambitious targets.

Google and Intel increase their use of renewable energy

Google has reported that it has just signed a 20-year agreement with NextEra for the supply of green energy. On July 30th the company will start buying the power from the 114 megawatts generated by the NextEra wind farm in Iowa, US, enough to supply several data centres.

This long-term agreement gives the wind farm developers some financial stability for further clean energy projects. In fact, as we reported back in May, Google has already invested $38.8m in two wind farms developed by NextEra Energy Resources.  Located in North Dakota, they generate 169.5 megawatts of electricity.

Although Google is buying the energy directly from the source, the company can’t use it directly, so is selling it back to the grid in the regional spot market. But it does mean that Google no longer needs to buy the equivalent Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) to establish its investment in green power. As the company points out, this direct purchasing deal over a long period is likely to have a greater impact on the renewable industry than simply buying ‘naked’ RECs from third parties.

Meanwhile, Intel has continued its solar energy plans with installations in Folsom, California, and Chandler, Arizona, now up and running. The Folsom installation, across 5.5 acres, is the company’s biggest to-date and will provide 25% of the building’s peak energy demands - more than 1.5 megawatts annually. The Chandler solar roof system will generate around 10% of the building’s energy peak demand.

Intel continues to top the EPA Green Power Partnership – the ranking of green power purchasers in the US. In the April 2010 list the company reported that 51% of its energy is green with the purchase of 1.4 billion kilowatt-hours annually (although that does include RECs), ahead of any other company. Dell was in 5th place with 0.4 billion kilowatt-hours (more than it actually uses in the US) and Cisco was 7th with a similar amount.

 

It’s great to see major IT players so active in the green energy market. Google has fingers in may green pies, but Intel is getting on with its long-term renewable energy plans and Dell is buying more green power than it actually uses in the US. It sets a good example and its even better when the investment is direct, in wind farms and solar installations, rather than in third-party RECs. It shows the ‘green’ face of an industry that could easily be seen as a polluter and puts a different spin on green IT.

US climate change bill falls, but government efforts to reduce emissions continue

The Democrats have abandoned attempts to get a comprehensive climate change bill through the US senate.

The bill was along the lines of the House of Representatives bill, passed last year, aimed at using cap-and-trade legislation to reduce US carbon emissions by 17% by 2020, compared with 2005 levels, with 42% cuts by 2030 and 83% by 2050.

Even a watered-down version, addressing the electricity sector only rather than all large polluters, failed to get the required support from 60 Senators. The Republicans hold 41 of the 100 Senate seats and were not prepared to support the Green legislation.

A much narrower bill will be introduced, but its main focus is in addressing the issues raised by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and supporting energy efficiency developments.  With elections coming in November and the Republican party expected to make gains, there is little prospect of achieving anything more for the foreseeable future. (Coincidentally, China Daily reported this week that China will begin a domestic carbon trading scheme sometime between 2011 and 2015 to help it meet its 2020 carbon intensity target).

 

It’s depressing news, mainly because other countries may see a lack of legislation in the US as an excuse for inaction. Understandably, many countries do not want to introduce measures that may make their industry less competitive internationally if others are not doing the same. On the other hand, lack of legislation in the US may hold back the development of a green economy, to the advantage of other countries.

In any case, lack of legislation does not mean lack of action, and the Obama legislation is doing what it can where it can. Just this week The White House announced that the Federal Government will reduce greenhouse gas pollution from indirect sources, such as employee travel and commuting, by 13% by 2020. This is in addition to the greenhouse gas reduction target from direct sources set in January this year.

The IT sector is also doing its bit. Plans to consolidate federal data centres and move to cloud computing are to be incorporated into fiscal 2012 budgets.  There was also a recent report from CDW Government that said that 77% of government agencies are implementing some form of virtualization and almost 90% are seeing the benefits.

Grid Net and Oracle join up to deliver smart grid/smart meter solutions

Grid Net and Oracle have announced that they’ll be working together on advanced distribution management systems and meter data management technology for utilities’ Smart Grid deployments.

Grid Net is a privately-held smart grid company that develops IP-based software to handle transmission of electricity over power grids and also smart meter software. Back in March Cisco announced that it had bought a stake in the company. Joining up with Oracle means that Grid Net will be able to offer Oracle’s utility solutions alongside its own, as well as getting access to Oracle’s established utility sector customers.

But in the dynamic smart grid/smart meter market, where favoured technologies and solutions are yet to emerge, this will not be an exclusive arrangement. The market has massive potential in the long-term, so all players will be looking to spread their favours in the hope of winning a slice of the action.

Grid Net, for example, sees its 4G WIMAX integration as a product differentiator, but the tie-in with Oracle will expand its market opportunities. Oracle is also a partner with smart meter telemetry company Sensus, which, as I reported a couple of weeks ago, has joined Arqiva in its trial of long range radio-based communications for smart grids.

AT Kearney announces that it has achieved carbon neutrality

Management consulting firm AT Kearney has announced that it has achieved carbon neutrality across its worldwide operations. In so doing it says that it is ‘fulfilling its first-in-the-industry 2007 pledge to be carbon neutral in 2010’.

For those who don’t know, AT Kearney has a long history but spent 10 years as part of EDS before a management buyout in 2006, just two years before EDS itself fell to HP. The company now has 1,700 consultants in 54 offices in 37 countries.

AT Kearney explains that it’s approach to carbon neutrality is built on four planks:

• measuring its carbon footprint

• instigating greener practices in offices

• implementing new models for client-service delivery

• investing in climate-protecting projects, i.e. offsets.

The firm points out that since it established its baseline metrics in 2007 it achieved a 5% reduction in emissions in 2008, a 14% reduction in 2009, and is aspiring to a 20% reduction in 2010.

 

The company has clearly made efforts to reduce emissions, but how carbon neutrality has been achieved deserves closer examination.

By my calculations the expectation is that by the end of 2010 emissions will be down by about a third on 2007 levels. But lets put this in context.  The Kyoto protocol looked to developed nations to reduce emissions by around 8% by 2012 on 1990 levels. The UK and Europe are now also looking to reduce emissions by around 30% by 2020, based on 1990 figures.

In AT Kearney’s case more than 80% of emissions come from travel.  That’s not likely to have changed much over the years and the extent of travel will be closely related to revenue.  A quick search suggests that the company’s revenue in 2007 was about four times what it was in 1990. So the 35% reduction on 2007 means emissions are probably still 2-3 times higher than they were in 1990.

In AT Kearney’s case, becoming carbon neutral is primarily achieved by the purchasing of offsets. The firm talks of ‘climate-protecting projects meeting the highest international quality standards’. I’m sure they are, but not all offsets are achieving the savings they are intended to, there is a limited number of quality offset schemes to go round and they’re not the solution for addressing emissions in the economy as a whole.

The real emphasis needs to be on reducing emissions internally. AT Kearney points to travel as the main cause, but talks about its sophisticated tools for calculating emissions from travel, not about the use of alternatives, such as videoconferencing and teleconferencing, to reduce them. Cutting down on travel is a controversial issue in the consulting industry, but it will be necessary part of reducing emissions in the longer term.

Of course AT Kearney is not alone. Many consultancy organisations are having to address their emissions, a lot of them in the IT sector. The saving grace is that, as AT Kearney puts it; “The firm’s carbon neutrality is part of a broader initiative designed to deliver sustainable, environmentally sound results to A.T. Kearney’s global client base”.  In a nutshell, consultancies need to be leading by example.  But where they make most impact is probably in the advice they give to a broad base of corporate clients.

Hara comes to the UK with its Environmental and Energy Management solution

Hara has been in the news recently with several notable wins for its Environmental and Energy Management (Hara EEM) solution. It was cited as an ‘Emerging Leader’ in the Enterprise Carbon Accounting market by research company Groom Energy Research in a report at the beginning of the year, and recent announcements seem to consolidate its position in these market sectors.

On June 23rd the company announced that toys and games company Hasbro had selected the EEM solution to support its corporate social responsibility commitments around energy usage and environmental impact. Shortly afterwards, on July 8th, the city of Las Vegas announced it would be using Hara to pull together the city’s energy and natural resource emissions data and manage sustainability initiatives.

But perhaps the most significant is this week’s news that UK-based Reed Elsevier, a major publisher and information provider, will be using Hara EEM to measure and monitor its global environmental performance. One reason for needing the solution is to conform with mandatory reporting schemes such as the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme.

The deal is important because although Hara’s solution is deployed in more than 90 countries, much of that seems to be as the result of sales to US-headquartered companies. Reed Elsevier is Hara’s first deal to a significant company based in the UK (where legislation is pushing the market).

An international effort, particularly into Europe, is likely to be a significant part of Hara’s strategy in the coming months and years. The company is less than two years old, founded by former executives from SAP and Oracle and with $20m invested since initial funding in 2008. As a start-up in a competitive market, it needs to expand rapidly to build its business and reputation. There will be some UK and Europe-based carbon solutions providers taking note of Hara’s arrival in the UK.

The green telecoms market is expected to be worth $122bn by 2014 – Pike Research

Pike Research has released a report, called Green Telecoms Networks, which looks at green telecoms initiatives worldwide - the opportunities, technology requirements and environmental impact.

The report focuses on the direct impact of green technologies and practices on telecoms networks and reaches the headline conclusion that green telecom network infrastructure investments will be worth $122bn by 2014, representing over 46% of telecoms capital expenditure worldwide. Of that, 63% of the investments will be for mobile networks.

 

 

The Asia Pacific region is expected to lead the capex spending by 2014, followed by Europe. Global emissions reductions by then (compared with doing nothing) are estimated at 24%, with a 46% reduction from mobile networks.

Mobile networks, base stations and switching centres will be a focus since they can consume 70%-80% of an operator’s network energy usage. Whilst the use of renewable energy solutions continue to face ROI issue because of their initial cost, as business cases move to a total cost of ownership (TCO) model their implementation becomes more attractive. Pike Research predicts that renewable energy will power 4.5% of the world’s mobile base stations by 2014, up from just 0.11% in 2010. The figure will be higher – 8% - in developing countries.

Fixed networks have declining subscriber numbers, and hence costs, so are less of a concern. Nevertheless, emissions reductions of 15% are still expected by 2014 from technology improvements at the component/board level.

Pike Research also points out that there are lots of opportunities for both fixed and mobile network operators to reduce emissions from data centres, both in the design of the facilities and in the IT itself, through server consolidation and virtualisation, for example.

BT adds weight to Arqiva’s long-range radio solution for smart grid communications in the UK

A couple of weeks ago I reported on Arqiva’s long-range radio smart metering proposition. I mentioned at the time that while the solution looks good there are a lot of forces lined up in the battle to supply the UK smart grid communications infrastructure, including some formidable ICT suppliers who are championing other technologies.

Well now Arqiva has a powerful ally in the form of BT, which announced today that it’s joining forces with Arqiva and Detica. BT apparently spent 18 months analysing the various communications options available to meet the smart metering initiative before joining with Arqiva. 

The Government will publish details of the project and the possible commercial opportunities in the autumn, which is when Arqiva and partners will formally launch their proposal.

The fact that BT doesn’t have a mobile phone operation of its own may have been a factor in going with Arqiva, but it does open the prospect of a real battle for smart grid communications technology in the UK.

Data centre greening moves on, as does the measurement

There have been several developments this year around the greening of data centres and the metrics used to measure them, so a brief update:

• After a wide review by all parties involved, the EU published its ‘2010 Best Practices for the EU Code of Conduct on Data Centres’. It provides the full list of identified best practices for data centre operators referred to in the Code of Conduct and is intended as an education and reference document.

It differentiates between aspects that can be applied to existing data centres and equipment and those that are expected with new IT equipment or software or during a retrofit of the facility. The document also identifies a subset of the best practices as being the expected minimum level of energy saving activity for Participant status.

• In June, the EPA announced the availability of the Energy Star label for stand-alone data centres and buildings that house large data centres, based on the Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE). To earn the label, data centres must be in the top 25% in energy efficiency according to EPA’s energy performance scale.

Last week storage and data management company NetApp announced that its Research Triangle Park (RTP) data centre, opened in 2009, had earned the award, the first to do so. With a score of 75% or higher needed, the RTP data centre scored an impressive 99%.

The data centre design has reduced CO₂ emissions for NetApp by approximately 95,000 tons per year. As a design blueprint it has apparently been visited by representatives from more than 500 organisations.

• Back in January a group of organisations in the US got together to agree on data centre energy efficiency measurements, metrics and reporting conventions. Among others they included The Green Grid, US EPA’s Energy Star programme, US Green Building Council and the Uptime Institute.

The first fruits of their labour were released last week in a report called ‘Recommendations for Measuring and Reporting Overall Data Center Efficiency’. This is Version 1, which provides recommendations on measuring and publishing values for PUE at dedicated data centre facilities. Version 2 will cover data centres that are part of larger mixed-use facilities.

The problem they’re addressing is that while PUE is widely used as a measure of data centre efficiency, the metrics are not always applied clearly and consistently. This is an issue when data centres are compared with each other or over time. (I’ve reported on the issues in the past, including the complaints that comparisons were not being made like-for-like). This document sets out what should be measured, how and when, broken down into four different PUE categories.

The methodology also provides weighting factors for different types of energy source, but it doesn’t take renewable energy use into account (since this is a measure of efficiency). Nor does it take into account whether waste heat is re-used, for instance to heat other facilities, although ‘there are on-going industry efforts to define a metric that could be used to account for this beneficial use’.

It’s good to see all this effort going into making data centres more efficient and measuring the results – there is much to be gained. But it is only a small part of the green ICT landscape, when you consider that IT can save a lot more energy outside the data centre than in. It would be good if similar attention were paid to the savings that IT can make elsewhere. It is happening - Smart 2020 and other reports have given macro estimates and some IT companies are measuring their contribution to emissions reductions in the economy and at the individual service level. It’s much harder to use clear and comprehensive metrics on these savings but it needs to be done if ICT is not to be relegated solely to the role of polluter (as some legislative initiatives are in danger of doing).

Trilliant raises $106m to address the fast-growing smart grid market

Smart grid solutions company Trilliant has announced that it has raised $106m of new funding. The leading investors are Investor Growth Capital (part of Investor AB of Sweden), VantagePoint Venture Partners and two grid-related equipment companies, ABB and GE.

Andy White, president and CEO of Trilliant said that the investors would provide Trilliant with " .. the resources to expand our Smart Grid solutions across North America and to a global marketplace. The strength and calibre of our partners will give current and future customers confidence that they have chosen a long-term market leader."

Given the expected growth in smart grid business, it’s no surprise that a leading solutions provider can raise this sort of investment. Trilliant is going to need it to fend of the competition lined up for a slice of the action.

The latest forecast comes from NextGen, part of ABI Research, which predicts that around $46bn will be invested in smart grids worldwide by 2015. Most of it ($41bn) will be in transmission and distribution, with the rest going on smart meters. Larry Fisher, research director of NextGen said that “This infrastructure spending will focus on grid automation and control, distribution automation, distributed generation and demand response programs.” That’s a lot of ICT.

GRI and CDP are collaborating on carbon reporting

The two biggest names in carbon reporting, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) have agreed to collaborate on their reporting standards.

The two organisations will work together in the development of Sector Supplements and feedback on each other’s guidelines/questionnaires. The idea is to look for ways in which they can align their questions to improve the process and get better quality reporting. The collaboration will also help the GRI in drafting sector reporting indicators.

The organisations have already published a paper ‘Linking up: GRI and CDP’. It includes a table that shows the overlap between GRI G3 Profile Disclosures and Performance Indicators and related CDP questions for 2010. Highlighting the overlap will help organisations conform to both reporting processes.

 

This is a good move. In total, 2,500 organisations around the world disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate change strategies through CDP and over 1,300 organisations published a GRI based report in 2009. (The GRI standards include a wider range of sustainability topics). So anything that helps the process is useful.

There is a lack of standards around emissions calculating and reporting, although some de facto standards have emerged, such as the GHG Protocol for calculating emissions and CDP and GRI for reporting.  Unfortunately, governments introducing their own legislation sometimes insist on their own variations, which muddies the waters. 

But for companies looking to report for the first time there are a range of potential standards to consider.  Usually carbon emissions management solutions will handle most requirements, but the sooner we get universal agreement on standards the better it will be for software buyers and sellers). Lets hope the GRI and CDP can merge their requirements sooner rather than later.

Green software solutions give way to ‘environmental platforms’

Verdantix has released details of a survey of 65 green software providers worldwide. Between them they offer 126 software applications that support environment, energy, carbon, corporate responsibility, sustainability and health and safety business processes. The headline conclusion from the analysis is that environmental software applications will be incorporated in a new era of integrated sustainable business software platforms from the likes of Enviance, Hara and SAP.

The Buyer’s Guide To Sustainable Business Software concludes that the sustainable business software market is characterised by:

• Rapid growth in the number of applications, up from 31 in 2005 to 126 in 2010. This growth is expected to increase buyer education.

• Sustainability leaders dominating purchase decisions. Almost all suppliers (93%) have sold to people with sustainability responsibilities, whilst just 18% have sold into the IT organisation.

• Not unexpectedly, the survey found that the dominant deployment model is Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). (This goes some way to explaining why the IT department isn’t involved - SaaS bypasses the IT operation).

• All sustainability processes are increasingly being integrated into one platform, i.e. through an integrated software suite such as Enviance’s Environmental ERP and Verisae’s Sustainable Resource Planning.

 

The surprise for me is the low proportion of IT departments involved in purchases, but then the SaaS aspect and the non-IT department purchases go hand in hand. And if you choose the right supplier, then the fact that the market is moving from solutions to platforms doesn’t really matter - if it’s SaaS delivery then adding additional functionality should be straightforward anyway.

If anything it’s the vendors that should take note. This is a market that will see dramatic consolidation and the report findings give a clue to winners and losers. Suppliers need to have a broad range of integrated environmental solutions (which gives existing ERP suppliers a head start), it needs to be SaaS delivery (increasingly the case anyway), and if you’re only selling to the IT department then something’s wrong!

As solutions become more integrated, the case for implementing BASDA’s green-XML standard also gets stronger.

BASDA launches Green-XML for exchanging environmental data

The Business & Application Software Developers’ Association (BASDA) is today launching a 'Green-XML' data exchange standard. The idea is to allow business applications to incorporate environmental data on green issues, such as carbon footprints and embedded water, in a way that can be exchanged with other applications and systems.

BASDA is the UK-based, international trade organisation for the business software applications industry. The BASDA Green-XML Standard will be launched at the first Global Business of Biodiversity Symposium in London today.

BASDA points out that the green-XML capability will support carbon reporting ‘which is likely to become mandatory for many organisations in the next few years’. Whilst carbon footprints/offsets and embedded/virtual water are expected to be the most popular aspects of green-XML in the short term, the standard will also incorporate waste management, COSHH/REACH data sets and bio-diversity.

The organisations announcement comes alongside the release of The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) report, initiated by the G8. The report calls for the accounting profession and financial reporting bodies to speed up efforts to provide standards and metrics for disclosure and audit of biodiversity and ecosystem accounting (beyond just carbon counting). It’s this that Green XML aims to address.

 

There’s certainly a need for standards as green software solutions become more widespread and cover broader areas. It will also be good for users – the more open the data the more flexibility there will be in acquiring software or adding to existing solutions. That’s a tough job already, what with changing legislation and a plethora of solutions and suppliers to choose from.

Cisco adds to the Connected Grid

Cisco has added to its Connected Grid smart grid solutions in recent weeks and gave an update of progress on Friday.

The company’s smart grid vision is summarised as an ‘end-to-end IP-based communication platform integrated with the power grid from generation to consumption’. (Of course not everyone agrees with the architecture). 

The diagram below shows the various aspects of the vision. The columns on the right-hand side are the new areas and I reported on the company’s first purpose built products – grid router and switch - when they were announced last month.

 

The more recent announcements have been around home energy management solutions, for both home and business use. It includes a touch-screen display and energy management software for monitoring and controlling energy use. The device connects to smart meters and has Ethernet and wifi connectivity for connection to a home network as well as slots for new interfaces in the future.

The company is also offering hosted services to support the devices when deployed in homes. The services includes provisioning, customising the devices, firmware updates and integration with back-end applications. The display can handle demand response analytics, for instance, and can be configured to react to critical price signal.

 

 

Users can monitor individual devices and there will be a cloud-based consumer portal where they can call up usage predictions, budget comparisons, comparisons with other similar users, energy savings tips, etc. Cisco is working with third parties on other peripherals that can be connected to the device and has an open API to allow the integration of other systems into the cloud.

 

Cisco is certainly going for the smart grid market – investment must be significant – but there are still a lot of hurdles ahead before it can be assured of a slice of the market. While the Home Energy Controller is apparently designed as a global solution, it will first be available in the US this summer. The global market will be a difficult challenge, given the variety of solutions, technologies, utilities and governments that are likely to have some say in smart grids and smart meters.

But Cisco is certainly helping to push the market along and provides one clear vision of what a smart grid/smart meters will look like. The company’s success came from helping build the internet, so you can see the appeal of having a hand in building smart grids.

Teleworking benefits - $15,800 per employee in the US

Telework Research Network’s (TRN) has published a white paper (sponsored by Citrix Online) aimed at quantifying the benefits of workshifting (working from home) for employers, employees and the community (in the US).

The paper, entitled ‘Workshifting Benefits: The Bottom Line’, analysed existing data from a variety of sources as well as interviews with virtual employers and others. It’s conclusions are based on several assumptions (from previous research), including the fact that 40% of workers could work from home at least part of the time and 79% of that population would choose to if given the opportunity. It provides the conclusions for companies with 50, 100, and 500 workshifters and for the US as a whole.

The paper looks at a variety of aspects of savings, including employer benefits, employee benefits and community savings. There’s lots of detail, here’s some of the conclusions (based on 100 people working from home for 50% of the time):

• There is a 27% increase in productivity when people work from home. Based on US average earning figures that would save a company $576K per year.

• Working from home half time saves 18% of office costs and 4,400 kWh electricity savings per person per year, saving another $304K.

• $113K is saved from reduced unscheduled absences

• $36K is saved by employees in reduced gas/petrol costs (a figure that would be much higher in Europe!).  Other work expenses – parking, food, clothing, etc – reach $384K

 

Other benefits, such as the cost of importing oil, emissions savings (129 metric tonnes for 100 workshifters or 52.8 million metric tonnes for the US as a whole), traffic accident costs, and highway maintenance are also detailed in the paper.

The bottom line is that the total benefit to the community is $1,579,621 for 100 people working from home. The benefit is split $1,069,535 to the employer, $420,333 to the employees and $89,752 to the community.

 

It’s an interesting study that uses existing research extensively to reach its conclusions. What’s good is that it provides a very broad view of the benefits and it’s this sort of joined-up thinking that’s required to change habits. It helps businesses understand the full benefits (not just financial) of moving to more home working and shows governments the benefits of encouraging the move. Home working is something that governments around the world will need to promote to help reach their emissions reductions targets.

The paper also quotes research from TechCast, a George Washington University think tank, that forecasts that 30% of the employees in industrialised nations will telework 2–3 days a week by the year 2019. Interestingly, the forecast included an estimate that the market for related products and services would be $400bn a year.  A lot of that will be Green ICT.

AlertMe improves its interface and apps, but is it enough?

Cambridge-based company AlertMe, which provides home energy management solutions, has released a new online User Interface (UI), iPhone app and real-time in-home display. The new interface and iPhone app use the company’s new API, so more applications are expected to be developed by the company and its partners.

 

The company has launched a number of applications providing more information on energy use, cost predictions, historic comparisons, etc. Future applications include a real-time carbon footprint, predictions of potential savings using solar panels, targets and benchmarks and an appliance adviser to recommend energy-efficient appliances.

Mary Turner, CEO of AlertMe says, “We believe consumers should have access to information about their energy use and understand how much they are spending on energy in real-time. This empowers them to make informed decisions on a day by day basis rather than waiting for a shockingly large bill, by which time it’s too late. It is widely accepted that by giving people greater visibility of their energy use and cost they can make cost savings of between 15% and 25% and for many AlertMe customers this can be upwards of 30%.

 

It’s all good stuff, but I don’t entirely agree with the CEO’s comments. A recent research report from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) makes the point that feedback gadgets alone are unlikely to maximise household energy savings.  The most effective method will include both products and services – targeting, tailoring, recommendations, etc.) to provide meaning and motivation.

AlertMe is clearly doing some of that and it looks like more is coming – achieving 30% savings is certainly impressive but I doubt many users are achieving it. But, for example, is there any need for a real-time carbon footprint calculator? Not until we have smart meters and differential pricing will we get real benefits from instant detail about energy use.

Green printing and an environmentally friendly mouse

Thanks to GreenIT.fr for highlighting a couple of interesting Green IT products:
Fineprint addresses the inherent waste in printing documents. Because users often don’t make the effort to use the most environmentally friendly print options, the Fineprint software sits between the application and the printer and makes it easier to select greener printing.

The software provides options of removing blank pages, grouping multiple pages on one sheet, eliminating unnecessary content (links, images, etc..) and duplex printing.

The other product is Corky, a wireless mouse that uses the kinetic energy from mouse movement and clicks for its power. It was designed and developed by Adele Peters in the US, but as far as I can tell it’s not (yet) available to buy. Pity.

European FIT4Green project aims at reducing data centre server energy use by 20%

The VTT Technical Research Centre in Finland has announced that it’s participating in an EU project, called FIT4Green, which aims to deliver 20% saving in the energy consumption of server and network devices and induce a further 30% saving in from reduced cooling needs.

The project will create an ‘energy-aware’ layer of plug-ins on top of the current data centres' management tools. This additional layer will be able to allocate ICT resources and turn off unused equipment. In addition, the project will develop energy consumption models for ICT components, and business models, such as energy-aware SLAs, will also be considered.

The approach being developed could potentially be applied to any data centre and the project will test the system in three pilot sites representing typical topologies: service/enterprise portal, supercomputing grid and cloud computing.

The 30-month project started in January this year and is coordinated by GFI Informática with HP Italy the technological leader. The first results considering single data centre scenario will be available in March 2011.

NightWatchman Server Edition addresses server sprawl

You probably know that 1E provides PC power management software – the company’s NightWatchman product is installed on more than four million PCs worldwide. But the company has been turning its attention to the server market and yesterday launched version 2.0 of NightWatchman Server Edition.

The focus of the product is to identify both physical and virtual servers that are not performing ‘Useful Work’ (1E has trademarked the expression).

It’s been a widespread belief for some time that IT organisations often don’t know what many of their servers are doing. The story is that companies have resorted to switching off servers to see if anyone complains (although I’ve not yet met anyone who has actually done that). In fact 1E’s research has found that typically 15% of servers are doing nothing.

Even if they are needed, servers are often under-used, which is where virtualisation has become such a success story. By putting several virtual servers on one physical device the efficiency increases significantly. The trouble is that it’s become two easy to create a virtual server which can subsequently be abandoned and forgotten. But it’s still using resources and costing money in terms of power use, software licenses, etc.

1E’s solution to both the physical and virtual server problem is to identify all known un-productive work and see what’s left. The software can identify a range of processes and activities, including CPU, disk, networking, etc. that enable it to establish what’s going on and what might be needed. If its just anti-virus scans, patches and backups then its not doing anything productive.

 

Based on the software findings servers can be automatically placed in a low-power state (which saves 12% of power to the server plus savings in data centre cooling systems) or removed completely.

 

There’s been a lot of talk about the problem of virtual server sprawl in recent years and 1E does seem to be addressing the issue head on. Talking to product managers Andy Hawkins and Andy Dominey yesterday they certainly see lots of development opportunities down the line. One is to include chargeback capabilities in the product - enabling data centres to allocate energy use and costs to servers, and hence, potentially, to applications and departments. Making those that use IT pay the energy costs really should be a long-term business objective.

Another possibility is to add more functionality to NightWatchman Server Edition to address other data centre energy aspects. For example, the company is talking to network/storage vendors to increase the product’s scope, but is keen to continue its agnostic view of vendors beyond its partnerships with Microsoft and VMware.

Any monitoring of IT energy use (and emissions) is still a relatively rare activity so Green IT products like this should be welcomed.

Arqiva tests the case for a long-range radio solution for smart grid communications

I spent an interesting morning with Arqiva yesterday at their Brookmans Park Transmission Station to learn about their smart metering proposition.

Arqiva is a privately-owned company in terrestrial broadcast transmission, satellite & media, and wireless access. The organisations that made up the company have their roots in the early days of UK broadcast transmissions 80 years ago. The £800m revenue company still broadcasts a variety of BBC and other services and has the largest portfolio of radio transmissions sites in the UK.

But Arqiva is now also putting forward its proposition for a smart meter communications network in the UK based on long-range radio. As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, there are several competing technologies in this race:

• Mesh radio - proprietary networks such as that from Trilliant, already supplying software to British Gas

• GPRS/GSM - potentially a range of providers

• WIMAX (wireless broadband) – Cisco, Motorola, Intel and General Electric support a WIMAX solution

• Public wireless networks, e.g. Arqiva

Arqiva put forward a powerful case for the use of its technology. A broadcast solution is more reliable than wireless alternatives and requires far fewer masts than, for instance, mesh radio. Broadcasting is a proven technology and connects properties, rather than supplying consumers, which is what broadband/GSM is designed for.  It is also inherently more secure from hacking than alternatives.  And Arqiva is used to delivering services over a long period – broadcast contracts tend to be 15 years plus – which is what’s needed for the lifetime of smart meters.

 

There was more and it all made a lot of sense, but it remains to be seen which technology is actually adopted. In any case, history tells us that the best technology does not always win out. The process of choosing suppliers for the UK network starts later in the year.

The GSM infrastructure has a head start, because it’s already in place, but Arqiva would argue that it’s not the most appropriate or technologically suitable solution. The company has launched a pilot service of its long-range radio service in Reading which may help establish its case.

The proof–of-concept network is part funded by an award from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and Arqiva has partnered with npower, to test the system, and Sensus for the smart meter telemetry.  Yesterday the company also announced that they have been joined in the trial by Detica (owned by BAE Systems), who will focus on maintaining network security, an increasing concern about smart grid and smart meter networks.

 

Arqiva certainly has a good case for its solution, but there are a lot of forces lined up in the battle to supply the UK smart grid communications infrastructure, including some formidable ICT suppliers who are championing specific technologies. Of course others are playing the field, and Arqiva has been talking to them.

CRC registration gets off to a (very) slow start in the UK

The UK is in the process of introducing the CRC Energy Efficiency scheme, a cap-and-trade scheme aimed at companies who’s electricity consumption exceeded 6,000 MWh in 2008 and are not included in other schemes, such as the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. All schools and universities and all central government departments are also covered by the legislation. I gave some background when it was still being considered last year, as well as the implications for IT operations.

Anyway, the process is that anyone who is on half-hourly electricity meters, thought to be around 20,000 companies, must disclose their energy use, while those who exceed the 6,000 MWh power limit, expected to be  around 5,000 companies, must join the cap-and-trade scheme.

All companies have to register by September 30th, just three months away, with potential fines of £5,000 plus £500 per day for late registration. (Registration started on April 1st).
The news is that as of June 28th 2,983 companies had made an information declaration and 522 companies had registered as CRC participants.  So halfway through the registration period just 15% of the total expected number of companies have disclosed their energy use and 10% of the expected number have registered as participants.

A wide range of organisations have registered, including airports, banks, football clubs, building societies, airlines, the BBC, department stores, supermarkets, pharmaceutical companies, a betting company, food groups, tyre companies, an F1 racing team, engine manufacturer, insurance companies and a travel group.

The list also includes a number of ICT companies/subsidiaries, including Capgemini, CA, Dell, Fujitsu, Hutchison 3G, Intel UK, Logica, Oracle, Sage, Steria, Unisys and Xchanging.

There’s still lots of time, but it does indicate the challenges with legislation like this.  It means there are potentially 17,000 companies in the UK that must calculate their energy use before the end of September.

For many of these companies it may be fairly straightforward to provide the information needed, but for those that fall within the scheme it becomes more complicated.  These companies need to calculate emissions and do it for all fuels they use (not just electricity).  A spreadsheet may not be good enough – certainly not for any growing company - so there are, potentially, 4,500 organisations in the UK turning to their IT departments for help in implementing carbon emissions management software in the next three months.

IT departments may want to be prepared and green IT software suppliers need to gear up for a rush (if they haven’t already).

Rapid growth expected for carbon management solutions in manufacturing

Pike Research has released a report into carbon management in the manufacturing sector. If you’re a regular reader you’ll know that monitoring and managing carbon emissions is a hot topic in green IT, even more so in manufacturing.  Pike quotes figures that global manufacturing accounted for around 40% of total CO2 emissions in 2007. 

The report points out that there is a lot of pressure on manufacturers to measure, monitor and report on their carbon output. Legislation is one reason, but so is pressure from customers, particularly retail companies. Band image is also at stake, more so as carbon footprint labelling schemes are increasingly adopted.

More details and the full report are available from here – but the bottom line is that Pike Research projects demand for carbon management software and services spending in the manufacturing sector will reach $124m in 2010 and $742m in 2017. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2009 to 2017 is estimated at over 33%.

Western Europe represents the best market opportunity in the short term, but from 2011 North America will become the most promising market, with a CAGR of almost 35%.

Pike Research specifically looks at the clean technology sector.  But for me, the fact that Carbon Emissions Management Software is now being quoted as a fast growing sector by IT analysts who have otherwise ignored all things Green IT (as market hype) suggests it has reached a breakthrough!

As the report rightly points out out, there is still some confusion about standards and a great deal of uncertainty about legislation which is likely to persist for some time yet. But that’s the sort of market where IT tends to grow rapidly as companies buy in and subsequently upgrade solutions as the market develops.

The real uncertainty is about which suppliers will be the winners and which the losers.  The market is fragmented and is likely to stay that way for a while, but (rapid) consolidation can’t be more than a year or two away, particularly as the enterprise software suppliers throw their weight around.