Triplesourced

Following from an earlier post around Dell's claims this week that it had achieved 80 PLUS Gold power supply certification for a server product, I have done a bit more digging (well, reading really)

After learning on the 80 PLUS web site, that the efficiency certification organisation has provided around $5m of incentives to IT companies to help them "transition to 80 PluS certified power supplies", I was slightly confused as to why tech companies – usually not short of a few quid – might require this kind of financial backing.

Anyone who is familiar with the economics of the US power generation market will know the answer right away – but for everyone else, the answer boils down to the fact that US utility companies don't want their customers using any more power.

Yep, that might sound counterintuitive or even counter-capitalist, but the fact is that the massive costs involved in building new power plants in the US means that the utility companies are very concerned about keeping up with demand. The biggest threat to their business model is not failing to find future growth opportunities, like most of other markets, but failing to service existing customers and the power cuts and shortages which would result.

"Our goal is to avoid the capital cost of building new power plants," said Greg Whiting, manager for energy conservation talking to IDG News Service earlier this year. "Encouraging companies to conserve power makes more sense than for us to keep spending to add marginal capacity."

Whiting made the comments at a meeting that took place in San Francisco in March this year where 19 US utility companies met to explore ways of cutting US energy consumption. This IDG article gives an excellent overview of the issue and what was discussed at the conference.

Circling back to the initial release from Dell, I have to say that while any moves to make servers and datacentres more efficient is a good thing, making out as if something that you are more or less paid to do by another company, has been done out of sheer altruism is disingenuous.

Yes, its good that Dell has complied with the 80 PLUS scheme, but it, along with the likes of HP and others, should also be upfront about the fact that power companies are very keen for them to do this – and indeed are giving subsidies to make it happen – and not try and make out that it is done solely to benefit customers or save the planet.

I have approached Dell for comment on whether they actually received any "incentives" from the utility companies behind 80 PLUS and if so how much are we talking but so far I have received much in the way of an answer – apart from this statement which doesn't really say much at all:

"Right now, our focus is passing this value back to the customer through energy-efficient technology and innovation. We’re also exploring ways to drive additional awareness of energy efficiency through customer empowerment and engagement initiatives. Stay tuned."

And:

"We’re committed to designing the world’s most energy-efficient technology, which extends well beyond our participation in this programme. 80 PLUS is a very good yardstick, and helps customers and manufacturers We aren’t releasing specific amounts, but stay tuned for more details about ways we’re working with 80 PLUS to drive value and help customers achieve their environmental goals."

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Just received this update quote, to an earlier blog , from Jean-François Cazenave, president of Telecoms Sans Frontieres, commenting on the fact that the organisation announced today that it has been forced to quit Burma after it was refused authorisation to enter the main areas affected by Cyclone Nargis that killed at least 133,600 people.

"Our first thoughts go to victims of the disaster which we would of liked to help. It's a shame we were not authorized to the affected zone as we could have helped to save many lives. Telecommunications play an essential role in aid coordination," he said.

The computer maker has announced today that is has become the first in its industry to achieve 80 Plus Gold-certification for a server product. Dell claims this is the latest sign that it's on its way to become the "greenest" technology company on the planet.

Dell claims the new 80 PLUS Gold power supply certification meets July 2009 Climate Savers targets for servers more than a year ahead of schedule, which require 92 percent minimum efficiency for the power supply unit at 50 percent of rated output.

Interestingly, poking around on the 80 Plus website, we learn that the certification organisation is backed by utility companies. "Participating utilities and energy efficiency organizations across North America have contributed over $5 million of incentives to help the computer industry transition to 80 PLUS certified power supplies."

While it's not clear whether Dell received any of these "incentives", I don't really understand why any computer maker would need funding from a utility company to improve its power efficiency? Surely they can afford to do this for themselves.

(Also Dell just happens to be on the board of one of the main partners of 80 Plus, an organisation called The Climate Savers Computing Initiative.)

While it's good to see a company like Dell, making efforts around servers, we shouldn't forget the scale of the contribution that IT makes to climate change. As Greenpeace points out, the IT sector currently accounts for two percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, equal to the aviation industry – with the average datacentre using the same amount of power as a small village.

And while Dell might be busy giving itself a slap on the back, environmental charity Greenpeace isn't quite as convinced. The green campaigner has just released the latest update to its Greener Electronics Guide – in which it names and shames the tech companies it reckons aren't a green as they might be.

The charity is now including criteria to assess the impact of electronics companies on climate change in its latest report.

According to Greenpeace, "Companies are scored on disclosure of their greenhouse gas emissions, commitment for absolute cuts in their own emissions and support for the mandatory global emissions reductions that are needed to tackle climate change."

Although Dell is doing fairly compared to other PC makers – it scores 4.5/10 in the latest report, and is in 5th place overall - Greenpeace does single out the PC maker for criticism. "Some companies that promote their ‘green’ policies come up short when measured against global standards of measuring impacts on climate change. Dell scores relatively poorly while Toshiba, Samsung and LGE score close to, or zero, on climate change criteria," the report claims.

Greenpeace also claims Dell could do better when it comes to potentially harmful or polluting chemicals in its manufacturing process as it has to put out on the market products free of PVC or BFRs.

I have just received an update that Telecoms Sans Frontieres, a charity that specialises in setting up telecoms equipment in disaster zones has quit Burma in the face of repeated attempts to block its activity by the government.

The group claims that Cyclone Nargis has killed at least 133,600 people and affected at least 2.4m – making it the worst disaster since the Asian Tsunami in December 2004.





However the organisation's requests for authorisation to deploy to two of the most seriously affected areas – Yangon and the Irrawaddy delta - were blocked, leaving it with no choice but to pull out of the area.

This is a major blow to TSF and to the other agencies it supports. Without the telecoms infrastructure to communicate, provided by TSF and similar groups, the activity of other agencies on the ground in Burma will be affected. TSF also provides infrastructure to allow local people to contact relatives abroad – a vital service in the chaos following a natural disaster or conflict.

Here's the release in full:

Pau, 25 June 2008 - After 15 days in Myanmar, Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) faced an unprecedented situation and decided to leave the country. TSF’s requests for authorizations to deploy to the Irrawaddy delta were not granted and as the organization was blocked in Yangon, TSF’s teams returned to their bases.

On June 1st, TSF obtained its first visas to enter Myanmar following Cyclone Nargis which hit the south western regions of the country on May 2nd and 3rd after having waited for more than a month at the border despite the scale of the disaster. TSF was first in charge of assessing telecommunication infrastructure and needs in the affected zones, particularly in the Irrawaddy Delta as part of an assessment mission of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT). The AIT based in Bangkok is a partner of TSF since 2006. TSF’s Asian base is also situated on the AIT campus and students from the University are regularly part of TSF’s teams responding to emergencies in Asia and the Pacific.

To strengthen the organization’s operation and in expectation of an imminent deployment to the Irrawaddy zone, TSF sent an additional team on June 8th. This team was composed of two telecom specialists from TSF’s headquarters in Pau and one from the Asian Base in Bangkok. In coordination with the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), TSF’s objective was to provide technical assistance and install back up communication solutions in three of the four humanitarian hubs in Laputta, Bogalay and Pathein right at the heart of affected zone. This support aimed at benefiting the entire humanitarian community working with those affected by providing all the necessary equipment to communicate and to better coordinate.

The Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) is led by the World Food Programme (WFP) and Unicef and coordinated by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). TSF was appointed First Responder of the ETC in 2006. The objective of the ETC is to mutualise and better coordinate resources from different agencies involved in emergency telecommunications leaving no emergency responder unconnected. Since 2006, TSF already responded to several emergencies in coordination with the ETC: in Indonesia, in Lebanon, in the Democratic Republic of Congo and more recently in Mozambique following heavy floods in February.

For more go to www.tsfi.org