Energy-Aware Algorithms for Greening Internet-Scale Distributed Systems Using Renewables

Internet-scale Distributed Systems (IDSs) are large distributed systems that are comprised of hundreds of thousands of servers located in hundreds of data centers around the world. A canonical example of an IDS is a content delivery network (CDN) that delivers content to users from a large global deployment of servers around the world. IDSs consume large amounts of energy and their energy requirements are projected to increase significantly in the future. With carbon emissions from data centers increasing every year, use of renewables to power data centers is critical for the sustainability of data centers and for the environment. In this thesis we design energy-aware algorithms that leverage renewable sources of energy and study their potential to reduce brown energy consumption in IDSs. Firstly, we study the use of renewable solar energy to power IDS data centers. A net-zero IDS produces as much energy from renewables (green energy) as it needs to entirely off-set its energy consumption. We develop effective algorithms to help minimize the number of solar panels provisioned for net-zero IDSs. We empirically evaluate our algorithms using load traces from Akamai\u27s global CDN and solar data from PVWatts. Our results show that for net-zero year, net-zero month, and net-zero week, our optimal algorithm can reduce the number of panels by 36%, 68%, and 82% respectively, thereby making sustainability of IDSs significantly more achievable. IDSs consume a significant amount of energy for cooling their infrastructure. Therefore, next, we study the potential benefits of using open air cooling (OAC) to reduce the energy usage as well as the capital costs incurred by an IDS for cooling. We develop an algorithm to incorporate OAC into the IDS architecture and empirically evaluate its efficacy using extensive work load traces from Akamai\u27s global CDN and global weather data from NOAA. Our results show that by using OAC, a global IDS can extract a 51% cooling energy reduction during summers and a 92% reduction in the winter. Finally, we study the greening potential of combining two contrasting sources of renewable energy, namely solar energy and open air cooling (OAC). OAC involves the use of outside air to cool data centers if the weather outside is sufficiently cold and dry. Therefore OAC is likely to be abundant in colder weather and at night-time. In contrast, solar energy generation is correlated with sunny weather and day-time. Given their contrasting natures, we study whether synthesizing these two renewable sources of energy can yield complementary benefits. Given the intermittent nature of renewable energy, we use energy storage and load shifting to facilitate the use of green energy and study trade-offs in brown energy reduction based on key parameters like battery size, number of solar panels, and radius of load movement. We do a detailed cost analysis, including amortized cost savings as well as a break-even analysis for different energy prices. Our results show that we can significantly reduce brown energy consumption by about 55% to 59% just by combining the two technologies. We can increase our savings further to between 60% to 65% by adding load movement within a radius of 5000kms, and to between 73% to 89% by adding energy storage

Urban surface uses for climate resilient and sustainable cities: A catalogue of solutions

Abstract In the current scenario of massive urbanization and global climate change, the urban surfaces and their characteristics have a key role, as they significantly influence the quality of life in urban areas, as well as their environmental conditions. To shed light on the role of urban surfaces in fostering climate resilient and sustainable cities, this paper proposes a catalogue of solutions for the urban surface use. The catalogue presents the main surface uses suitable for the built environment, and discusses the potential conflicts and synergies among them in the view of a multiple and integrated utilization of urban surfaces. Reviewing studies published in the last 15 years, this study aims to answer three major questions: (i) which solutions do exist, (ii) where can these be applied, and (iii) which benefits do they provide. The discussion demonstrates that the use of urban surfaces might lead the development of multiple opportunities for improving the existing urban environments and supporting not only environmental, but also social and economic resilience. Finally, it emphasizes the need for specific quantitative and qualitative approaches to address the multi-disciplinary challenges posed by the design and implementation of surface uses, and the evaluation of their contribution to site-specific objectives

Planning for a Prosumer Future: The Case of Central Park, Sydney

Rapid convergence of utility and mobility solutions enabled by data and the Internet of Things is future-proofing economies around the world, delivering liveability, sustainability and resilience, and importantly decreases pressure on utility bills and infrastructure costs. Australians cannot miss out on the many benefits brought to families and businesses by the digitisation of infrastructure and services are bringing—not just reduced household bills but also the ability to generate income as prosumers, not consumers. Localised sustainable Next-Gen infrastructure and services are growing from within communities, creating a new class of consumer—the prosumer: where customers are more than consumers but also producers. Prosumers have the ability to generate free energy from the sun at home or office and sell the excess, recycle water and waste reaping the financial benefit, avoid the second largest household expense of a car by sharing mobility, and access shared data networks to plug in and play at little cost. Planning frameworks play a critical role in enabling a new utility prosumer future in Australia and reform of planning gateway processes is essential. This article highlights Sydney’s Central Park as a best practice urban infill development showcasing how the flows of water and energy are organised to provide enhanced sustainability, liveability and resilience for the local and neighbouring communities. Central Park proves the benefits of taking a precinct approach to utility and mobility services. It shows how these benefits can grow and be exported to neighbouring buildings and existing communities, in this case University of Technology driving inclusion and affordability. Central Park also demonstrates the opportunities to drive deeper socio/environmental benefits by enabling prosumer services through low-cost access to utility services and circular resource flows. Importantly, this article demonstrates that Central Park’s phenomenal sustainability benefits can be replicated at scale in land release communities, but planning reform is required

THE EUROPEAN UNION ENERGY TRANSITION: KEY PRIORITIES FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS. POLICYBRIEF ISSUE 1 | JULY 2019. Bruegel

Over the last decade, the European Union has pursued a proactive climate policy and has integrated a significant amount of renewable technologies – such as solar and wind – into the established energy system. These efforts have proved successful and continuing along this pathway, increasing renewables and improving energy efficiency would not require substantial policy shifts. But the EU now needs a much deeper energy transformation to: i) decarbonise in line with the Paris agreement; ii) seize the economic and industrial opportunities offered by this global transformation; and iii) develop an EU approach to energy competitiveness and security, as the EU has neither the United States’ shale potential nor China’s top-down investment possibilities