Internet routing becomes energy-aware

Researchers have come up with a new way to route Internet traffic that could save big Internet companies like Google millions on their electricity bills, according to an article published by MIT's Technology Review, reports CNET News.

Researchers from MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, and the networking company Akamai, recently published results from a study that suggest big Internet companies could save up to 40% on their electricity bills by using an algorithm to send Internet traffic to data centres where electricity is less expensive.

Data centres consume a lot of energy, which costs operators like Google and Amazon millions of dollars to run each year. And now as more digital information is "virtualised" and accessed in the cloud, centralised data centres are getting even bigger and are consuming even more energy.

A Chinese company has claimed its multi-crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) modules have broken the world record for solar conversion rates and that the feat has been independently verified, states Computing.co.uk.

Suntech Power attests that its commercial-grade module converts light into power at an efficiency rate of 15.6%, which beats the previous record of 15.5% set by US organisation Sandia National Labs last year with its aperture-only, frameless module.

Suntech's record includes the framed area of the module, without which the company believes it could hit conversion rates of more than 16%. The firm said the modules are powered by so-called Pluto PV cells and are already available commercially.

Intel Capital, the investment arm of Intel, has recently invested a total of $10 million in five cleantech firms, says CleanTechBrief.

The deals include a first-time investment in the US-based demand response and energy efficiency firm, CPower, plus follow-on investments in Ireland's Powervation, and the US-based companies Convey Computer, Grid Net and iControl.

“Intel Capital has made a significant commitment to invest in the cleantech sector in recognition of the increasing need for alternative energy production and advanced energy management and utilisation solutions,” says Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital and Intel executive vice-president, in a statement.