IBM Offers Green Certificates to Data Centre Power Misers (1-Nov-07)
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Full story: IBM Offers Green Certificates to Data Centre Power Misers (1-Nov-07)
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IBM is launching an initiative to give its corporate customers a way to measure and potentially monetize energy-efficiency measures in their data centers using an emerging form of currency.
The computing giant on Friday detailed a program that will let companies earn energy-efficient certificates, which are awarded after a company undertakes a project to lower its data center power consumption. It's part of its Big Green Innovations program to invest in clean tech.
IBM is partnering with Neuwing Energy Ventures to verify the amount of kilowatt hours reduced through data center makeovers.
Companies can either claim those energy reductions as part of their own corporate environmental initiatives, which increasingly call for more quantifiable measures. Or they can sell the energy-efficiency certificates on the voluntary renewable energy certificate market. A handful of states also have a mechanism to sell these certificates to utilities that have renewable energy mandates.
IBM designed the program because more companies are looking for ways to accurately measure their energy consumption as part of environmental programs, said Rich Lechner, vice president of IT optimization at IBM.
He said he expects most customers to hold on to the energy-efficiency certificates rather than sell them. The monetary value of a large-scale energy efficiency program could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars if the company chooses to sell as credits, he said.
The energy-efficiency credits are part of a growing trend to use financial markets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Most corporations in the United States are not regulated on the basis of their greenhouse gas emissions. But that's expected to change within a few years.
There are a number of federal proposals designed to put a monetary value on emissions, such as carbon dioxide. Some regimes call for a tax on carbon emissions, while others are built around a cap and trade model where polluters have a maximum emissions target and are issued credits when emissions fall below that cap.
IBM will offer the energy-efficiency credits on its mainframes and midrange servers to clients in the U.S. this year. It intends to extend the offering to its entire server and storage line and offer it to customers in Europe next year, said Lechner.
- Source: CNet News.com
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IBM's Big Green Data Centre Cert has Hard, Soft Upside (1-Nov-07)
IBM announced today that it is offering the first Energy Efficiency Certificate (EEC) program for data centres. The program – offered in conjunction with Neuwing Energy Ventures – offers customers an opportunity to obtain recognition for their energy conservation measures through a formal monitoring and verification (M&V) program.
The EECs, like carbon credits, can have cash value, but the mechanisms for valuing and trading them are still in their formative stages. EECs in regulated environments can be worth an average of $10-$15 per megawatt hour; when traded in the “voluntary market,” they are valued at roughly $3-$5 per MWH.
In truth, these figures represent very little of the cash benefit associated with energy efficiency. In IBM’s internal energy conservation project, the company believes it will reduce its data centr electrical requirement by 119,000 megawatt hours. Over time, this translates into an estimated $25 million in energy savings – and the company believes that the related operational efficiencies will yield operational benefits worth nine to 10 times that amount.
Against these figures, EECs worth somewhere between $300,000 and $1 million do not seem hugely material. However, the benefits of EECs extend beyond their cash value: energy efficiency also contributes to soft benefits like improved employee morale and a better corporate image.
My take is that this seems to be a very well-timed initiative. IBM launched its “Big Green” initiative in May of this year, and states that since then, it has added roughly 5000 green-fueled opportunities to its sales funnel. The company notes that in the last 60 to 90 days, there has been a “huge uptick” in interest driven by Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mandates within its customer community. Being green appears to be good business for everyone in the supply chain – IBM and its customers alike.
- Source: IT Business Edge
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