Until recently, the main environmental concerns associated with information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been their use-phase electricity consumption and the chemicals associated with their manufacture, and the environmental effects of these technologies on other parts of the economy have largely been ignored. With the advent of mobile computing, communication, and sensing devices, these indirect effects have the potential to be much more important than the impacts from the use and manufacturing phases of this equipment. This article summarizes the trends that have propelled modern technological societies into the ultralow-power design space and explores the implications of these trends for the direct and indirect environmental impacts associated with these new technologies. It reviews the literature on environmental effects of information technology (also with an emphasis on low-power systems) and suggests areas for further research.

https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-environ-021512-110549

Smart Everything: Will Intelligent Systems Reduce Resource Use?

▪ Abstract After a first career as Professor of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, working in experimental particle physics at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), I was prompted by the 1973 Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil embargo to switch to improving energy end-use efficiency, particularly in buildings. I cofounded and directed the Energy Efficient Buildings program at LBNL, which later became the Center for Building Science. At the Center we developed high-frequency solid-state ballasts for fluorescent lamps, low-emissivity and selective windows, and the DOE-2 computer program for the energy analysis and design of buildings. The ballasts in turn stimulated Philips lighting to produce compact fluorescent lamps. When they achieve their expected market share, energy savings from products started or developed at the Center for Building Sciences are projected to save American consumers $30 billion/year, net of the cost of the better buildings and products. In t...

THE ART OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Protecting the Environment with Better Technology

The Helios Strategy: An Heretical View of the Potential Role of Solar Energy in the Future of a Small Planet

More jobs can be created and money saved by maximizing energy efficiency than by producing more energy. California, without curtailing economic growth or sacrificing jobs, can supply enough nonnuclear energy with mandated conservation, demonstration, and incentive programs. Projected increases in demand, historically based on declining rates and increasing substitution of electricity for other fuels, are no longer appropriate. Options include raising the efficiency of equipment and structures and shifting demand from peak periods. Quarter horsepower engines, for example, have less than half the efficiency in 1975 as some comparable 1940 models. State policies could be instrumental in directing efficient end uses for each fuel. Comparisons with other countries reveal that the U.S. uses about twice as much energy per capita as several developed countries without a higher per capita income. (DCK)

/pdf/conservation-and-peak-power-cost-and-demand-4aqa0omp9c.pdf

D.B. Goldstein

Papers

Conservation and peak power: cost and demand