green IT - News, Features, and Slideshows

CSIRO’s solar thermal heliostats will be deployed for Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) to conduct research into technologies that reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

There’s more to renewable energy than just a smart grid, and it’s going to have to integrate with many different systems and connected devices if it is going to provide any real value. That’s the view of Bryan Hannegan, associate lab director at National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which is funded by the US Department of Energy.

The future of green technology innovation isn't looking so bright following the repeal of the carbon tax, says Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s head of Australia, Kobad Bhavnagri.

Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) has saved millions of dollars in upfront capital costs by outsourcing its data centre to iseek.

The CRC for Low Carbon Living Vision and Pathways 2040 Project held a workshop this week to discuss how Sydney and Melbourne can be transformed through green, smart technologies, and create a vision for what the cities will look like in 2040.

Whatever else you may do with your PC, it's likely that you print out at very least the odd letter, document or photograph. Papers and inks can be expensive, so printing wisely isn't just a matter of choosing the right printer for the job; you also need to ensure it's properly set up.

As if data quality and stockouts weren’t enough of a day-today worry for CIOs, added pressure to serve demanding online customers and keep up with changing legislation are creating new challenges. With several retail giants lumbering online and the looming introduction of the government’s new carbon tax, CIOs need to be working with procurement, financial and other business leaders to ensure supply-chain systems are up to today’s new challenges.

Smart meters have a way to go. The recent 2010 Australian Smart Grid Study, a survey of 13 Australian utilities by sector consultancy Logica, showed an average self-reported maturity rating of just 2.14 on a scale of 1 to 5, and communications networks to support them rated 2.80.

Like any entrepreneur, Andrew Dyer is excited about the possibilities for his clean-energy venture, BrightSource Energy. The company, of which he is a director, is this year partnering with energy giant Chevron to cover 1000 acres of the US desert with 4000 mirrors that reflect sunlight onto three boilers mounted atop each of three 100 metre towers.

Sydney-based Verb IT is the first company in the Asia Pacific region to provision an HP Performance Optimised Datacentre (POD) next-generation data centre in a shipping container. The new Verb DC site where the POD is located is a standard industrial warehouse in Wyong on the NSW Central Coast (one hour north of Sydney). Verb DC is schedueld to go live in September after a 14-week project, including the POD delivery time. In what is being painted as a big win for the Central Coast IT industry, the new POD will provide computing services to local businesses and the world.

Reducing power usage and cutting carbon emissions is probably the right thing to do for the future of the planet. But keep this is mind: Green is a powerful marketing term right now and cost-savings promises are part of the marketing pitch. Like all marketing promises, results vary. One example: The amount of money a typical consumer can save by using or powering down energy-efficient computers, printers and the like is often small--in the case of an up-to-date laptop, the energy savings add up to perhaps just $10 a year.