TechWonk Blog Subsection
TechWonk Blog
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This week, the U.S. House of Representatives will consider HR 2126, "Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2014,"聽formerly the 鈥淏etter Buildings Act of 2013,鈥� which will help the federal government harness information technologies and data centers for improved energy performance and efficiency.聽 The bill, which will save federal resources and therefore taxpayer dollars, should pass easily, and it deserves [...]
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Data centers are the workhorses of the latest wave of ICT innovation: cloud computing, the rapid expansion of mobile technology, and the shift from physical media to digital streaming.聽 None would be possible without data centers. However, there is a consequence, namely the growing energy and water use of data centers and the stress that places on the larger system. Industry has responded swiftly by [...]
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On Secretary of State John Kerry鈥檚 first trip to China, the U.S. and China established the U.S.-China Working group under the Strategic and Economic Dialogue.聽 Mr. Todd Stern, U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change, and Mr. Xie Zhenhua, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, jointly lead the Working Group. This week, Mr. Stern and Mr. Xie gathered again in Arlington, Virginia [...]
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Yesterday eBay Inc. formally opened its new Salt Lake City data center 鈥� a world class facility that is on track to help facilitate an estimated $300 billion in enabled commerce volume by 2015.聽 Long story short, eBay is proving that environmental considerations can go hand-in-hand with good business strategy, and many transactions on eBay and PayPal will now be a little bit greener. 聽 聽 The data center [...]
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As we enter an increasingly digital and mobile economy, the promise of greater operational efficiency for businesses, consumers, and governments is obvious. 聽 So, too, is the need for greater reliance on data centers. 聽 What may not be as obvious is what this means for a cleaner, greener future, or, as Google queried at their large forum earlier this year, how green is the internet? I expect to have [...]
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This blog was originally published on The Breakthrough. Mark Mills鈥� recent report 鈥淭he Cloud Begins with Coal鈥� has received much attention in the past weeks, but largely for its comparison of the energy use of an iPhone versus a refrigerator. This factoid has become a distraction. Aside from his dependence on dubious statistics, Mills erroneously ignores the real benefits technology provides in combating [...]
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This blog was originally published at koomey.com. Joe Romm at Climate Progress was good enough to post my analysis of the recent claim that your iPhone uses as much electricity as two refrigerators. 聽This issue was highlighted in Friday鈥檚 edition of NPR鈥檚 Marketplace program,聽which thankfully didn鈥檛 fall into the false balance trap that many journalists find irresistible. 聽Here鈥檚 the short summary [...]
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This piece was originally posted by Schneider Electric. In a year of political impasse where we can鈥檛 agree on a budget, immigration reform or gun control, an area of agreement and bi-partisan support has emerged; energy efficiency.聽聽Depending on which side of the aisle you sit, energy efficiency either gets support as a job creator, a reducer of government waste or a step forward towards solving our [...]
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President Obama today is set to unveil his climate action plan 鈥� a 21-page white paper intended to serve as a roadmap to reduced greenhouse gas emissions across myriad economic sectors.聽 (Watch his speech live -- happening now.)聽 The White House plan has three pillars:聽 Cut carbon pollution in America Prepare the United States for the impacts of climate change; and, Lead international efforts to combat [...]
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In his聽blog on Thursday, 91pro视频鈥檚 Dean Garfield quoted comments made by Google鈥檚 Eric Schmidt at the 鈥淗ow Green Is the Internet?鈥� summit that we attended that day.聽 Now, you can view Eric鈥檚 full comments as well as all the plenary remarks from the event. 聽They are聽here, along with a two-minute overview video that gives testimony to the energy and intelligence that permeated the event. 聽聽 We also produced [...]
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