A Survey of Green Networking Research

Reduction of unnecessary energy consumption is becoming a major concern in wired networking, because of the potential economical benefits and of its expected environmental impact. These issues, usually referred to as "green networking", relate to embedding energy-awareness in the design, in the devices and in the protocols of networks. In this work, we first formulate a more precise definition of the "green" attribute. We furthermore identify a few paradigms that are the key enablers of energy-aware networking research. We then overview the current state of the art and provide a taxonomy of the relevant work, with a special focus on wired networking. At a high level, we identify four branches of green networking research that stem from different observations on the root causes of energy waste, namely (i) Adaptive Link Rate, (ii) Interface proxying, (iii) Energy-aware infrastructures and (iv) Energy-aware applications. In this work, we do not only explore specific proposals pertaining to each of the above branches, but also offer a perspective for research.Comment: Index Terms: Green Networking; Wired Networks; Adaptive Link Rate; Interface Proxying; Energy-aware Infrastructures; Energy-aware Applications. 18 pages, 6 figures, 2 table

Principle guided investing: The use of negative screens and its implications for green investors

In recent years Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) has received considerable attention from both private investors as well as pension funds. Despite this proliferation in interest, several topics are still unresolved, namely selection methods, performance and effects regarding sustainability. This paper examines how green investors can induce firms to invest in cleaner production technology by using exclusionary investment screens. SRI is more likely to be successful when abatement costs are low and if principle guided investors are numerous and have homogenous investment principles. The transformation process becomes more probable when shares of clean firms are viewed as a separate asset class by all investors. Green investors have to accept lower returns from shares of clean firms, even in the case of positive externalities.Socially Responsible Investment, Pension Funds

Going green in the hospitality industry

The purpose of this research is to examine whether a hotel’s greening efforts are a reason why everyday guests or hospitality professionals choose a hotel. Do meeting planners and business travelers expect certain things while staying at a hotel? Do the personal greening activities of a guest affect their hotel stay? This will also include the housekeeping needs of the guests and why they choose the hotel. The objective of the research will be to discover whether there is guest data to support the need for hotels to become green establishments

How Green Public Procurement Contributes to Sustainable Development in China: Evidence from the IISD Green Public Procurement Model

The People's Republic of China spent more than CNY 1.6 trillion (USD 252 billion) on procurement in 2013, accounting for 11.7 per cent of all national spending (Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China, 2014). In light of these numbers, the potential environmental, social and economic multipliers of greening government purchases become evident. The benefits of a comprehensive and efficient green public procurement (GPP) policy are not limited to the green products and services the public sector buys, but will have a ripple effect that encourages green consumption nationwide. The significant purchasing power of the government will provide the much-needed incentives in order for businesses to invest and innovate in green products and services to meet the government's guaranteed long-term and high-volume demand. Additionally, GPP is in line with China's national plans to pioneer "eco-civilisation" and with the upcoming 13th Five-Year Plan (FYP), which underlines the importance of GPP.This paper is the second and final component of IISD's contribution to greening public procurement in China. Our discussion paper Green Public Procurement in China: Quantifying the Benefits, published in April 2015, analyzed China's GPP landscape, taking a closer look at current practices, actors at different levels of government and the underlying legal framework. In addition, the paper introduced the IISD GPP Model, discussing its potential for quantifying and communicating the benefits of GPP, while providing a high-level overview of the modelling approach used and of the scope of the model envisioned. Building on the results of the IISD GPP Model, consultations with stakeholders and an extensive literature review, this paper provides targeted recommendations addressing the development areas identified to improve GPP in China. The recommendations follow a multiphase approach offering more immediate solutions as well as more ambitious, larger-scale overhauls of the GPP framework for the long term. The results of the IISD GPP Model will be shared for the first time as part of this paper, making the case for green procurement through analyzing five product categories: air conditioners, lighting, cars, paper and cement. These categories were selected because they represent significant financial flows in procurement, have notable environmental impacts and domestic production, and have sufficient data available to facilitate their analysis. A detailed overview of the key elements of the modelling approach will be provided, in addition to an explanation of the model setup and the range of externalities monetised for each product category. Finally, we will look at how to use the model at the different levels of government as well as how its scope can be extended and customised in order to leverage its potential under a wider range of circumstances and areas of procurement

Greening Demand: Energy Consumption and U.S. Climate Policy

The search for greener, less polluting energy supplies has dominated discussions of u.s. climate change strategy, but we often overlook cheaper and faster greenhouse gas emissions reductions achievable through energy efficiency and conservation. In this article, I outline a decade-long greening demand agenda to reduce the amount of energy consumed in the United States. The federal government should aim to reduce U.S. energy consumption by fifteen percent by 2016 and twenty percent by 2020 to achieve needed reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. While the United States has achieved notable efficiency gains since the 1970s, several market failures and other barriers continue to serve as obstacles to energy savings. These include principal-agent divergence, high implicit discount rates used in decision making on efficiency upgrades, and outmoded forms of utility regulation. I demonstrate how a greening demand agenda, centered on price signals, performance standards, informational tools, and changes in utility regulation can be used to overcome these barriers. Many of the challenges are technical and scientific, but law will play a central role in structuring incentives and shaping national markets for efficiency innovations. I conclude with some thoughts on the technical and political feasibility of greening demand