Technology Daily: Techies Laud Bill Aimed At Energy-Efficient Servers

Technology Daily
“Techies Laud Bill Aimed At Energy-Efficient Servers”
June 21, 2007
by Heather Greenfield

Technology companies are praising language embraced by a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Wednesday that directs the Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Department to consult the industry about energy-efficiency standards for data centers.

The bill was one of six draft measures that the Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee approved by voice vote. The legislation would establish a voluntary, industry-led energy-efficiency program for data centers and authorize $250,000 for Energy and EPA to initiate it. The full committee is expected to vote on the legislation next week.

 "The data-center provision embodies one of the technology industry's top priorities: helping the nation move toward energy independence through innovation," said Rhett Dawson, CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council. He added that he is pleased the legislation approaches data centers as entire systems, which he said optimizes efficiency.

The worry was that without a holistic approach, companies could be forced to replace 100 computer servers with 100 new energy-efficient servers -- rather than using other technology to consolidate down to 30. Steve Hartell, director of government affairs for EMC, offered the example of replacing a light bulb with a florescent bulb, versus the energy savings of turning off the light.

The definition of data centers varies but generally describes farms of computer servers, like the big one announced in Council Bluffs, Iowa, by Google this week. It will house 600,000 computers and use about as much energy as a small city in that state.

Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Harold Rogers, R-Ky., had asked the EPA to study data-center energy consumption. That report is due to be released soon.

It is expected to find that 1-1/2 percent to 2 percent of energy consumption in the country is from data centers. "Some may think that [up to 2 percent] is a lot, but we would be using more energy if it weren't for them," said Brian Peters, director of government relations for the Information Technology Industry Council.

EPA already has begun workshops with tech companies as it explores whether serves should have "Energy Star" efficiency ratings like refrigerators, furnaces, computers and laptops. "It's been a very good back-and-forth," Hartell said.

The hope from both the tech industry and the EPA is that the House will pass new energy legislation on data centers and ultimately lead to a better definition of how exactly to measure energy efficiency -- and improve it.

Peters said there are many options to make servers, chips and software more efficient and consolidate data. Companies like Hewlett-Packard and IBM are working on this. Google said this week that it hopes to reduce server energy waste from 33 percent to 7 percent.

Companies also have formed a consortium called the Green Grid to share ideas on saving energy. EMC, which produces data-storage equipment, is a member of Green Grid and has begun taking its own energy-efficiency steps because customers are demanding it.

"It's widely believed [that] data-center energy use is going to be self-regulating because of the cost of electricity," Hartell said.