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| CURRENT SECTION :: TechZone | UK's most visited IT Contractor Site - 250k unique visitors March 2008 |
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Mother Nature's forces should become the sole source of the world’s computing power wherever they reside and whenever they peak. Such is the verdict of a Cambridge university computer expert, who wants the systems of tomorrow to run off remote outposts built on solar and wind power reserves. Explaining his idea to the Royal Society in London, Prof Andy Hopper said computing power could be shifted to servers close to the world’s renewable stations. To provide computing power globally, he said a network of energy producers could be called upon depending on where and when solar or wind power peaks. Disclosures of his speech, seen by the Guardian, suggest his idea rests on the fact that moving energy via the national grid entails losses, at a long-term cost to consumers and the climate. By using wind farms, his theory is that less voltage energy would be ready for use locally, foregoing the need for the current high voltage energy via the national grid. In turn, this would limit energy loss and benefit the environment. However business computing currently accounts for 2.8m tonnes of CO2 emissions a year, with total emissions of just over 150m tonnes, according to official UK figures. “I think it is very interesting to contemplate a world with a smallish number of server farms, huge ones, which are deployed in places where the energy is produced,” said Hopper, a professor of Computer Technology. “There’s something very special about computing power which is very different from heating your house. Computing power can be moved around the world and can be done anywhere in the world where the energy is available.” Prof Hopper said the “whole point” of a renewable network to power computers is that it would be cheaper and more efficient because it would use energy in situ. Mar 19, 2008 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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