Jeff St. John: February 19, 2009, 3:37 PM

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Run Data Centers Hotter, Say IT Giants

Microsoft, Oracle and Intel all agree — data centers can run hotter than most people think they can.

And that means using outside air to cool them isn’t as crazy an idea as it used to seem, representatives from the three IT giants said Thursday at the Teledata Technology Convergence Conference in Santa Clara, Calif.

Temperature is a hot topic for data center operators, since cooling systems can make up a large share of capital and operating costs. More and more data centers are trying to cut energy costs in the face of what’s expected to be overwhelming growth in their thirst for power (see Data Centers Could Hit 'Resource Crisis').

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) did raise its temperature guidelines for data center equipment last year, giving servers a temperature range of up to 80.6 degrees Fahrenheit, rather than the 77 degrees it had set in 2004.

But Microsoft, for one, is demanding in its procurements that servers run at temperatures as high as 95 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s what Christian Belady, Microsoft’s Principal Power and Cooling Architect, told an audience of data center aficionados.

“You may have a slightly higher failure rate� at those higher temperature, he said. “But I challenge any vendor to tell us what that failure rate will be.�

Raising the acceptable temperatures inside data centers opens up the possibility of “air economization� — in other words, using outside air without air conditioning.

Bradley Ellison, IT Infrastructure Manager for Intel, said the company recently finished a nine-month test of a New Mexico data center that used an "air economizer" system — one that drew in outside air as hot as 90 degrees Fahrenheit and shifted to air conditioning only when the air exceeded that temperature.

"This will not work everywhere," he said. "But we did not experience any equipment failures by going to outside air."

But try telling that to data center customers, said Mukesh Khattar, global director of energy efficiency for Oracle.

“We have users who balk at the idea that you’re trying to run those systems beyond� ASHRAE specifications, he said. “The very first failure that happens, they’ll come right after you.�

Not only that, but some data center designers will refuse to leave out cooling systems, he said.

“So we said, you install a $5 million chiller plant that will not be operated, and because we have a chiller plant we have to exercise it form time to time — all kinds of issues are coming up,� he said.

Ucilia Wang: February 19, 2009, 3:00 PM

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Borrego Sells Residential Solar Division ‘Cause That’s Not Where the Big Money Is

Borrego Solar Systems has agreed to sell its residential installation business to groSolar for an undisclosed sum.

The El Cajon, Calif.-based Borrego said Thursday it will focus on designing and building solar energy systems for businesses and government agencies because that’s where the big money can be made. The company, which recently raised $14 million, is expanding into the mid-Atlantic region, beginning with New York and New Jersey. Borrego has been doing business in California and Massachusetts.

Borrego, founded in 1980, has reasoned that demand in the commercial and government markets will grow faster than the residential one. Sales from these two segments accounted for more 75 percent of the company’s revenue in 2008, it said. Borrego said it generated $60 million in revenue in 2008, and ended the year with more than $90 million in contracts.

Commercial and government projects tend to be larger and, until recently, more incentives were available for commercial installations, according to a study released today by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

A change in the federal investment tax credit this year will sweeten the deal for homeowners who want solar. On the other hand, the $787 billion stimulus package signed by President Obama this week contained a $5.5 billion provision for making federal buildings more energy efficient, and that could include adding solar energy systems.

Obviously, groSolar, founded in 1998, thinks it’s getting a pretty good deal with the acquisition. The company, based in White River Junction, Vt., serves 12 states and Canada. It does both residential and commercial projects.

Eric Wesoff: February 19, 2009, 12:19 PM

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Drill, Baby, Drill

Midday events at Stanford University attract a crowd of students, professors, George Schultz in a red jacket and a bunch of retirees.  I mean, who else can attend a speech by the CEO of ExxonMobil in the middle of the day?

Rex Tillerson, chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil recited a speech on Tuesday afternoon in an event sponsored by the Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP). GCEP’s purpose is to conduct pre-commercial research that will lead to technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  ExxonMobil is GCEP’s largest sponsor and plans to invest up to $100 million in the program over 10 years.

In 1968, there would be have been howls of protest in the face of an oil company underwriting an environmental program. These days, Stanford students just hope for employment after their studies.

Mr. Tillerson, a civil engineer by training, joined Exxon in 1975.  He became CEO and Chairman of Exxon in 2006.  According to Wikipedia, The Rockefeller family sponsored a non-binding resolution to separate the CEO and chairman positions that Tillerson holds in order to maintain a system of checks and balances. The Rockefeller family also wanted Exxon Mobil to invest more in alternative energy. The resolution did not obtain the necessary majority, and Tillerson held on to both job titles.  According to Forbes’ CEO compensation data, he made about $6.86 million in compensation in 2007.

Here are some quotes from Mr. Tillerson:

• “The world economy will recover and when the world economy recovers—so will energy demand.”
• “‘Hydrocarbon energy is available and abundant and will account for the majority of the world’s energy demand at least until 2030”
• “No single energy source will meet all needs or reduce emissions, there is no one perfect solution on the shelf or on the drawing board.”
• “Solar needs to drop an order of magnitude to about $0.30/W from $3.00/W.”
• “With much further R&D, algae could play a role in transportation fuel supplies and reducing GHGs.”
• “We believe that a carbon tax would be a more effective policy than a cap-and-trade system.”
• “It is rare that a business person like myself would support a new tax but it is my judgment that a carbon tax would be the best solution.”
• “We need a 30-year energy policy, 10 years won’t do it.”

On peak oil:

• “We endorse the assessment of the USGS—the current conventional oil resource base is three trillion barrels and there are another one to two trillion barrels in heavy oil and one trillion barrels of shale oil.  We have consumed one trillion barrels since we started using oil.  There is a large endowment out there.  USGS updates have always gone up—it is a technology phenomenon.  With technology advancements like 3D seismic imaging to a whole host of other technologies.  We have gone from 600 feet to 10,000 feet ocean drilling.  It’s ongoing technical advances that open up and identify that resource endowment—imaging in sub salt basins in West Africa and below basalt imaging.  The technology keeps moving and the resource base keeps growing,  We are confident that we can access much more. We have sufficient hydrocarbon resources to meet the world’s needs for the next century.”

On climate change:

• “Climate science is one of the most complex sciences out there today.  We don’t believe in scientific consensus.  That’s an oxymoronic statement.  We support scientific investigation.  We have to submit to the continuation of scientific study.  Its too important to fail.  C02 concentration is going up and temperature is going up but what is the relationship?   We have an issue about how people use the models.  First and foremost we need to support good unencumbered scientific investigation.  As far as policy—it is a risk management issue—probabilities of outcome.  We need to actively manage that risk.  Our position hasn’t changed.  The science has been so contaminated by the political process.”

Why not drill in the U.S.?

• “The U.S. has a rich resource endowment that has not been fully explored or tapped.  It is withheld from our beneficial use—our government water and our government lands.  We’ve been set in the mindset of the 1960s  It is purely and simply an environmental issue.  If you live by the precautionatry principle—get out your tent and your matches and your horse.  We have to help the public understand.”

We can’t drill our way to energy independence. The  Energy Information Administration (EIA) has reported that offshore drilling will have little effect on oil and gas production or on prices before 2030. Meanwhile, Big Oil swims in record profits and the U.S. is the top global warming polluter in the world.

We need a new vision for our future.  We should focus on reducing our need for oil—which is where real national energy security lies.