Intelligent Energy Systems

On February 24.th it was announced that IBM would join the so-called Edison-consortium.
The EDISON consortium (Electric Vehicles in a Distributed and Integrated Market using Sustainable Energy and Open Networks) consists of IBM Denmark, IBM Zurich Research Lab, Denmark's largest (National-wide) energy company DONG Energy, the regional energy company of Oestkraft, Technical University of Denmark, Siemens, Eurisco (Plant Genetic Resources) and the Danish Energy Association. Due to the environmental benefits of the electric vehicle technologies, the research will be partly funded by the Danish government.
At the Technical University north of Copenhagen a large scale computing system will be established based on websphere, SOA-technology and IBM Blades. The idea is to use this to build advanced simulation and calculation models to determine the optimum time to charge electric car batteries given the surplus from electrical windmill generators. Denmark is one of the foremost countries in the World when it comes to deployment, production and development of windmills. (See Vestas homepage)

This is perfectly in line with the Danish Government’s drive towards a consensus at the upcoming climate summit in Copenhagen later this year, and it also matches perfectly with IBM’s declared strategy to support green technologies on a World Wide basis. The Green Agenda at IBM was in fact one of the most solid outcomes of a World-Wide so-called Jam, that IBm conducted with it’s 350.000 employees and more than 400 private and public business partners and customers in October 2008. The results are now being launched as recommendations, programs and new investment areas under the Smarter Planet initiative – including the Green agenda. Read about IBM Smart Planet drive

Sam Palmisano already met with Obama and his staff (click link to see video) during the transition period to advice on how technology could help save energy and how this could be matched with Obama’s vision of a turn around scheme for the US economy creating new jobs.

IBM currently is running more than 20 energy-related major innovative projects around the World, and the first one that was announced was the Island-state of Malta, home of the Templar Knights.
Here IBM won a contract to supply the small country’s energy system with more than 250.000 intelligent meters with the intention to optimize usage of electricity, balance pricing with consumption and help consumers to time heavy use of energy.

Many more projects are bound to come up – also aiming at the consumption of energy within the IT business in itself. With a projection of energy consumption going up 10-30% pr. Year, even the current IT consumption at 2% of all the World’s energy resources will soon be very visible.
The Green Datacenter is bound to be a focus item for any large organisation.