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G20's low-carbon progress
A new report cautions that the G20 needs to strengthen its commitment towards a low-carbon economy. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) global energy-related CO2 emissions came to a standstill in 2014 and 2015. However, this optimistic news is somewhat contradicted by the fact that most countries are reportedly failing in key areas of decarbonisation like investment attractiveness, renewable energy investment, climate policy and carbon intensity levels.
In the prelim to the G20 summit in China on 3 and 4 September, the Climate Transparency report has established that the G20 must take rapid climate action to take control on its carbon footprint, which currently accounts for 75% of global emissions.
Climate change was a priority on this year’s G20 agenda. The report measured the current ability of each member to help erase the group’s 56% rise in energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) between 1990 and 2013.
Climate Transparency co-chair and former Energy Minister of Costa Rica Alvaro Umaña said: “The G20 has proven that it can be nimble, and take action on economic issues, so we are looking to these countries to do the same for the climate.
“Our report shows that while global emissions growth may be coming to an end, there is not yet the necessary dynamic to transform the ‘brown��� fossil-fuel based economy and into the ‘green.’ There remains a tremendous opportunity for the G20 to make this transition and provide the world with enough energy, create affordable energy access for the poorest people, and to stimulate economies.
“While the G20 is rightfully addressing the issue of green investments, the climate needs an actual shift – away from brown - to green.”
The future of carbon
Edie reported, following demands from an investment group worth £13trn for G20 nations to step forward and ratify the Paris Agreement this year and accelerate investment in clean energy, the Climate Transparency report recommends that all members submit plans as to how they will decarbonise by mid-century; introduce a price on carbon and commit to base infrastructure investment in order to keep temperature increase below 1.5C.
Joint efforts and participation from government, business and civil society will allow for a “prosperous carbon future".
How are the G20 countries performing in climate action? Based on the report's key findings, the decarbonisation efforts of prominent G20 members in the transition to a global green economy:
1) UK tops the energy intensity revolution
2) India has the lowest CO2 emissions per capita
3) Fossil fuel subsidies remain widespread
4) Britain and Japan tick all of the climate policy boxes
5) Brazil holds a gold medal for renewable energy deployment
6) Brexit could decrease renewable energy investment attractiveness for Britain
7) The EU holds the world's largest carbon pricing instrument
Carbon pricing is generally expanding within the G20, with a whole range of different schemes being applied. In many cases, however, the price of carbon has been too low to steer economies towards lower carbon. The EU ETS, covering 45% of the EU’s GHG emissions, remains the single largest international carbon pricing instrument. China announced plans to introduce a national ETS in 2017 that will cover eight sectors and is expected to form the largest national carbon pricing initiative in the world in terms of volume.
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http://www.meniscus.co.uk/market-expertise/energy-management-analytics/
MAP delivers advanced energy management capabilities by giving users the ability to monitor the performance of their most energy-intensive processes in a building or site such as; pumping, refrigeration, ventilation.
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Notting Hill waste generated 100MWh of electricity over Bank Holiday weekend
Westminster City Council collected all the waste from Notting Hill Carnival and used it to generate electricity for the National Grid. This was completed before return to normal life on Tuesday morning.
Approximately 200 tonnes of waste was collected over the weekend across Notting Hill Carnival’s three-and-a-half-mile route. The council had a full-time team feeding back into the grid with the assistance of Veolia, an environmental solutions company.
In 2015, the team took a mere four hours to complete the clean-up.
Veolia's senior contract manager Vincent Masseri said, "While the clean-up following Notting Hill Carnival represents a sizeable challenge, it’s one we relish because it’s a real team effort. We deal with the waste in the most sustainable way possible and ensure everything is spotless ahead of rush hour on Tuesday morning."
According to an edie report, the clean-up team was divided into 15 separate groups. They were positioned intentionally along the route to maximise speed and efficiency of collections. After the waste collection and separation phase, any left-over waste was be converted to green energy. This green energy produced over 97000 kWh of electricity and 19,600kWh of heat for homes around London, saving 54 tonnes of CO2.
Unusual items
The Cabinet Member for City Management at Westminster City Council, Melvyn Caplan, quoted, “We are proud to support such an event and provide such an efficient clean-up service to get the streets tidy after one of Europe’s biggest street parties. Through the hard work and commitment of our clean-up operatives, you wouldn’t know such a huge event had taken place and I know residents and visitors appreciate their efforts to get the streets back to normal.”
Common items of refuse included plastic bags, food, and drink, packaging, beer cans, flags and whistles making up most of the waste collected. A few odd items of waste were found including paper mâché dragons and inflatable palm trees.
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http://www.meniscus.co.uk/energy_industry/
Delivering data analytics to the Energy Industry
Meniscus analytics software provides high performance, flexible and scalable cloud-based tools to the energy industry. Our software will quickly and easily let you develop bespoke applications that turn your big (or small) data sets into the calculated metrics you need for your business.
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Greenpeace survey reveals mobile phone industry to improve recyclability
Mobile companies have been urged to come up with new business models that include batteries lasting longer and have more recyclability possibilities.
According to a study conveyed by Greenpeace, which surveyed 6000 people in countries US, China, Mexico, Russia, German and South Korea in an effort to understand mobile consumer attitudes toward mobile phone upgrades. Over 80% of people surveyed, wanted new mobile phones to be easier to repair and to have a longer battery life.
The report also showed that users would be open to the idea of a ‘closed-loop detox’ which would see mobile phone manufacturers like Apple, Samsung and LG, improve the life cycles of mobile phones by being more recyclable and longer upgrade periods.
“True innovation should strive to improve economic and environmental goals simultaneously. Mobile phone manufacturers - who are responsible for providing recycling services, according to most of the respondents - can be economically benefited from good product design,” a statement from the survey read. “The new product design should take recycling into consideration from the beginning of the production phase, using the recycled materials instead of virgin materials, and create the products easier to be dismantled at the end.
“We challenge the information technology sector to move towards closed-loop production and embrace the circular economy. Designing for durability, and recycling to extend product lifespan not only enables the materials to be used but can also generate revenues for manufacturers. It is time for the technology leaders to rethink the way they make our electronic gadgets, to reshape the economic model for the environment and for people, and eventually to lead the world to a brighter future.”
The survey further revealed 90% of participants consider a longer-lasting battery, which requires less charging, as an important feature for a smartphone. Over 80% of the participants also want new phones to have better longevity and be easier to repair.
More than half of the respondents would be happy to upgrade less often and more than half also think mobile phone manufacturers should be responsible for creating mobile phone more recyclable.
Closed-loop detox
Less than 5% of the survey owned up to self-repair on mobile phones. Greenpeace has launched a new campaign aimed at improving the IT sector’s willingness to embrace closed-loop models. And, also reduce the number of chemicals used in the production phased.
The survey was released one week after mobile phone provider O2 revealed that its customers had saved more than £135m since 2009, by recycling two million old mobiles through the company's Think Big programme.
Apple has also ventured into the repair market, launching an innovative recycling robot named Liam to regain valuable materials from discarded iPhones.
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How are drones used to help the environment?
Amazon plans to use drone technology tests in UK airspace for the use of unmanned delivery aircraft. What are the potential implications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for green business and the environment?
According to edie, the use of drone technology has been on the increase in the commercial, scientific and recreational industries. UAV are being tested and used in surveillance and search and rescue operations as well as aerial photography, surveying, and digital communications.
It is easy to see why drones have quickly flowed into the mainstream – they are lightweight, low-cost, require little preparation or infrastructure, and don’t use fuel.
Since Government has approved the use of UAV, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is moving closer to his revolution of drones delivering small packages directly to shoppers within 30 minutes of order.
Understandably this has caused quite the commotion among both the general public and civil groups. There are two main opinions; those who are excited by the idea and those that are dismayed at the thought of flying robots and the potential privacy implications.
But what does all of this mean for the environment? Could drones be used to support low-carbon, resource efficient business models? edie rounded-up five case studies which demonstrate the positive impact UAVs could have on our planet.
1. Aerial mapping and nature monitoring
A 5kg drone can fly for several hours and send back images with a pixel resolution of up to one metre. A drone can provide clear images anytime during any day.
Drones can also carry meteorological equipment like wind gauges, thermometers, humidity and pressure sensors to collect climate data from regions across the globe.
Drones from small companies around the world have been contracted out to map lava flows in Hawaii; water reserves around the capital of Chad, N’Djamena, and an ancient peat bog in Switzerland.
2. Renewable energy maintenance
No longer do we inspect wind turbines by fastening people up to wires and hanging them off of wind turbines. Renewable energy companies can now use small drones to send back real-time videos of power cables; 3D images of turbine blades, and even HD live video of hydro-electric dam walls, so they can check for damage at minimal cost.
DroneDeploy, a cloud software platform provider for commercial drones partnered with that is expected to increase the efficiency of solar panel installation and inspection using drone-based thermal imagery capture and analytics.
With a few taps on a smartphone, solar installers can automatically fly the drone and collect data that is sent to DroneDeploy’s cloud-based infrastructure. The technology reduces the number of time workers spend on roofs, reduces the potential for measurement errors, and simplifies the maintenance of existing systems.
3. Disaster relief
Drones are being used to assess, prevent and even fight environmental disasters. By collecting statistics from an affected area, the drone can build a picture of the situation and give recommendations for how people should direct their resources to lessen damage and save lives.
4. Protecting wildlife
Drones are being used to monitor populations of species. The WWF and Brazilian Police are even drones to track poachers and illegal loggers.
In some cases, drones are even able to identify poorly trees – in the USA, trees suffering from ‘ash dieback’ were found by drone aircraft before being treated. Drone start-up Drones Over Water have created an agile quadcopter that can draw water samples from potentially dangerous water sources in hard-to-access locations and return for testing for infectious diseases.
5. Agricultural sustainability solutions
Drones are gradually replacing machines on farms and agricultural land for spraying plants in such a way that it reduces fertiliser use by 20%, saving an important hydrocarbon-infused resource, and protecting the environment from pollution in the process.
Drones are being used to monitor livestock, crops and water levels. High-res images can provide detailed information on crop health, improving yield and reducing input cost.
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http://www.meniscus.co.uk/developers_api/
Meniscus analytics software provides high performance, flexible and scalable cloud-based tools for developers. Our software will quickly and easily let you develop bespoke applications that turn your big (or small) data sets into the calculated metrics you need for your business.
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What is Sustainable energy?
It is a form of energy that is an important currency behind everything we do without expiring or depleting levels so they can be used over and over again. It is a basic need for all living activity, commercial or otherwise, whether the needs are for calories, kilowatts or an embedded component of the goods or raw materials we buy.
How do we measure sustainable energy?
The use of energy, its sources and the effects which come as a result of these, are current topics, with and increasing understanding and acknowledgement of our need for fossil fuel. More research, by Terrafiniti, a sustainability and CSR consultancy, has gone into finding out how we can develop sustainable energy systems.
The focus of this research has been in two main areas:
· Increasing the productivity of energy use, and
· Shifting the sources of energy used for commercial, industrial and domestic purposes.
Energy efficiency, known as the ‘5th Fuel’, has played a vital role in regulation. ESOS (Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme) and the CRC (Carbon Reduction Commitment) are two initiatives which apply to business, but there are also energy efficiency labelling systems for domestic goods, cars, private houses and requirements for minimum energy (MEES) efficiency performance for residential letting, according to Terrafinit.
Although new technology has provided energy saving devices like LED lighting, society’s need for mobile has increased the need for energy consuming devices. An average smartphone has an energy footprint of one gigajoule.
Whilst there is a general move towards conserving energy of these products, through an increase in online activity and electronic trade, there have been some benefits in terms of energy consumption but results are not straightforward. Server farms are energy sappers and where we save in one place we spend elsewhere.
However, were we able to access cheap and clean energy, then the efficiency of our use would be less of an issue. Unfortunately, though, our energy infrastructure (especially in the western world) has been designed according to a model of large-scale generation and long distance transmission. This is something that renewables struggle with. Renewables provide energy that requires aggregation (concentration before use) whereas fossil fuels provide forms of ready-concentrated energy.
Our facility to move from a dependence on one type of energy to another is mainly due to the infrastructure in place. The UK has a grid system that is not two-way and does not allow the aggregation of many small sources of energy generation. However, this may be changing with the development of smart grids.
When renewables are measured against coal, oil and natural gas (CONG) as direct substitutes we encounter issues as they are not ‘always on’ (on the contrary not always burning fuel) and they can lack the energy concentration or power required to provide a direct substitute. Moving away from this towards an ecosystem-based upon renewables will require bigger changes in the way we provide and use power and likely a higher level of differentiation between uses and the systems that support them than we have currently have in place.
To make the best use of renewable energy we need to develop varied models of energy supply and demand which may be defined by a new typology of demand, distinguishing the needs of consumers.
For example, an industrial system that needs high quantities of continuous power could be provided as a function specific to use. Domestic energy needs may be met individually through multiple systems; space and water heating provided by solar with or without short-term interim storage. Transient high power needs such as cooking could be met through a battery, flywheel or pumped storage or via neighbourhood flow batteries. There is also scope for the further development of stock-able renewables (e.g. biomass, ethanol, hydrogen etc.) which would help moderate energy supply and distribution issues.
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http://www.meniscus.co.uk/energy_industry/
Delivering data analytics to the Energy Industry
Meniscus analytics software provides high performance, flexible and scalable cloud-based tools to the energy industry. Our software will quickly and easily let you develop bespoke applications that turn your big (or small) data sets into the calculated metrics you need for your business.
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The Unspoken, Gaps in Data Part 2
In our previous blog we focused more on why gaps can be bad for your systems. Should you need to refresh yourself on these details, please click the relevant link.
There are various different methods on filling gaps in data and there is no right or wrong method of filling gaps, as it is always a compromise. The following methods are just some of the ways you could fill the gaps in data:
· Carry values forward. Meaning you’re taking the previous value and bringing it forward to fill the gap.
· You could use data that was received at the same time. Data from a day, week or year before, and use that to fill the gap.
· Other more complicated methods involve the following. Taking averages of points in previous years for the same point. Or doing more with season + day type averages. Each day has an associated day type (weekend + weekday for a simple example) and season of the year. This allows averages to be built that are more reflective of seasonal variations and usage and are less prone to suffering from the impact of more extreme individual values.
· Back filling data by Interpolation using incrementing data sets. For example, if your incremental counter ended on 100 units at the start of the gap and started on 180 units at the end of the gap that means we used 80 units. And, 80 units is over a 4-day period, so therefore it’s 20 units per day. This we feel to be the most accurate method as the data is there and is accurate as it is actually what has been utilised.
The best position is not to have gaps, but when there is, we created a system that allows us to detect gaps in data before importing it into your own Energy Management Systems; or any other system you may use.
Using MCE (Meniscus Calculation Engine), we extract the data into our systems where the calculations are set up to automatically identify the data. E-mailed Management reports are generated by MCE and the information is sent to you or directly to the Data Collector to ensure that the gaps are filled with the correct data.
If you’re having problems with gaps in your data, give us a call. Let us find a method that works for you.
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http://www.meniscus.co.uk/ Meniscus – Delivering data analytics to the connected world
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Nottingham City Council meets climate change targets
Four years ahead of schedule and following several energy saving programmes and investments in renewables across the city.
Nottingham city achieved a 33% reduction in carbon emissions since 2005, beating a 26% target set by the local authority for 2020, according to recent government statistics.
Councillor Alan Clark, Nottingham City Council’s portfolio holder for energy and sustainability, said: “It’s a great achievement to have met this important target four years early. Nottingham is at the forefront of sustainability awareness and these latest figures maintain the city’s position as the UK’s most energy self-sufficient city.
“There has been a real move towards sustainability in the city with a wide range of organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors carrying out vital work to reduce our environmental impact. Beating our target is a fantastic recognition of the efforts across the city to achieve this aim.”
The solar energy created a large share of the initiatives across the city, including UK’s largest solar carport in August 2015, and the installation of solar panels on over 4,000 council house roof tops.
"We think we've got the highest proportion of solar panels per household in the country so that's clearly making a difference and it's taking people out of fuel poverty,” Clark added.
"We think we've got the highest proportion of solar panels per household in the country so that's clearly making a difference and it's taking people out of fuel poverty.”
However, cuts to government support for solar were announced earlier this year causing Nottingham City Council to put a halt on all new installations.
Councils won’t be able to spend their budget unless a return can be made. Speaking at the Solar Power Portal Roadshow in Nottingham back in April he said councils were still willing to part with cash if a 5% return can be promised.
“Of course, the change in FiT has hit our ability to meet our ambitions. That was clearly a blow to us as much as it anyone else in this field. But we are determined to continue to install renewable energy wherever we can make the business case,” he said.
Nottingham City Council has made significant progress in decarbonisation of its transport infrastructure. Councillor Nick McDonald, the portfolio holder for business, growth and transport, has said the city has Europe’s largest fleet of electric buses and is securing government funding for electric vehicle charging infrastructure and other electric fleet vehicles.
In January, the Department for Transport received £6 million to Nottinghamshire to pay for the installation of 230 charge points across the county.
McDonald further said: "We're going to be cracking on, it doesn't mark the end just the end of one phase. We've got an ongoing review partly because we've got new policy officers in as well so they want to review how we've been doing on the strategy and start something new.”
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http://www.meniscus.co.uk/market-expertise/energy-management-analytics/ MAP delivers advanced energy management capabilities by giving users the ability to monitor the performance of their most energy-intensive processes in a building or site such as; pumping, refrigeration, ventilation. MAP can deliver the key metrics to identify process inefficiencies as well as modelling complex electricity tariffs, providing real-time energy metrics and much more.
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Offshore and Onshore Wind Renewables provide a quarter of UK electricity generation
Renewable energy sources are emerging as the main means of generating power and electricity in the UK. This came after the annual Government energy statistics reported that a quarter of all UK electricity was generated from renewables in 2015.
The renewables shove was dominated by wind power. Wind power accounted for just under half of the electricity generated by renewable sources coming from offshore wind which increased by 30% in 2015 and onshore wind contributions also increasing by 23%. According to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy – which released the report – this was due to increased capacity, load factors and wind speeds.
Commenting on the figures, RenewableUK’s deputy chief executive Maf Smith said: “The Government took the right decision when it announced the phasing out of coal. Now we can see renewable energy filling the gap, replacing old technology with new. 2015 was the first year that renewables outperformed coal.
“A quarter of Britain’s power is now coming from wind, wave and tidal power and other renewable energy sources. Renewables are now part of our energy mainstream, helping us modernise the way we keep the lights on by building new infrastructure for the generations to come”.
http://www.meniscus.co.uk/market-expertise/weather_analytics/
Weather is a key factor in the performance of many assets/services from wastewater treatment through to the number of shoppers in the High Street.
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Are computers using more electricity than the world can generate
According to technical experts, computers will use more electricity than the entire world can generate by 2040. Modern society is depending more on their computers for doing everyday events from ordering food to dating.
Experts are warning we may not have enough energy power to keep our PC’s running; things could end with a big bang and disappointment, to say the least.
Semiconductor Industry Association, a leading technical organisation has produced a study reporting the computer-crazy society will be running short of electricity by 2040. It said, “Computing will not be sustainable by 2040 when the energy required for computing will exceed the estimated world’s energy production.”
The Semiconductor Industry Association meets every year to discuss how electronic components, transistors, which power computer circuits, can be made smaller and more efficient.
The organisation is acknowledging that they probably won’t get much smaller, indicating the end of an era where computers got faster as transistors shrunk to tinier sizes.
This means tech firms will have to think of new ways to make computers powerful enough to keep up with demands.
“Driverless cars and personalised medicine along with countless other applications of intelligent systems are on the horizon”, the Semiconductor Industry Association added.
The year 2040 carries great significance in the tech world. Some believe this will mark the era when artificial intelligence becomes as clever as us humans – the moment is known as the singularity.
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http://www.meniscus.co.uk/home-energy/
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THE UNSPOKEN, GAPS IN DATA – Part 1
Over the years we have come across a number of problems when it comes to receiving data. One of the common problems is where there is a gap in the data. This can cause problems for the energy management system that you may be using, and make your job even more difficult and time-consuming than it already is.
When there is no data. What do you do?
The most used and straight forward method is to carry forward values. Meaning you’re taking a previous value and bringing it forward to fill the gap. This can work when you have a single value missing and it may be sufficient depending on the scope of your needs.
Unfortunately, there is no right or wrong method of filling gaps, as it is always a compromise. The method you choose is dictated by the quality of the data you require versus the effect to attain it and the importance of the impact that the choice of method, makes to your results.
Using the MCE (Meniscus Calculation Engine) we have come up with a system that allows us to extract the data from your Energy Management System (or any other system that you may use) and pull it into MCE. This is where we set up calculations that automatically identify the data gaps.
In our next blog, we will be talking about the different methods we use to fill these missing ‘gaps’.
http://www.meniscus.co.uk/market-expertise/energy-management-analytics/
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Are computers using more electricity than the world can generate
According to technical experts, computers will use more electricity than the entire world can generate by 2040. Modern society is depending more on their computers for doing everyday events from ordering food to dating.
Experts are warning we may not have enough energy power to keep our PC’s running; things could end with a big bang and disappointment, to say the least.
Semiconductor Industry Association, a leading technical organisation has produced a study reporting the computer-crazy society will be running short of electricity by 2040. It said, “Computing will not be sustainable by 2040 when the energy required for computing will exceed the estimated world’s energy production.”
The Semiconductor Industry Association meets every year to discuss how electronic components, transistors, which power computer circuits, can be made smaller and more efficient.
The organisation is acknowledging that they probably won’t get much smaller, indicating the end of an era where computers got faster as transistors shrunk to tinier sizes.
This means tech firms will have to think of new ways to make computers powerful enough to keep up with demands.
“Driverless cars and personalised medicine along with countless other applications of intelligent systems are on the horizon”, the Semiconductor Industry Association added.
The year 2040 carries great significance in the tech world. Some believe this will mark the era when artificial intelligence becomes as clever as us humans – the moment is known as the singularity.
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http://www.meniscus.co.uk/home-energy/
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Tech firms tackle IoT security with management protocol
Published by Computer Weekly, 25 July 2016. A group of tech firms has joined forces to develop a management protocol for IoT devices that could pave the way to an open, interoperable standard to address security and privacy risks
The group includes UK-based chip maker ARM, security firm Symantec, digital identity specialist Intercede, and telecom and mobile security specialist Solacia.
They have been working with Sprint, Beanpod, Sequitur Labs, Thundersoft, Trustkernel and Verimatrix to assess the security challenges of connecting billions of devices across multiple sectors, including healthcare, manufacturing, and transport.
The cross-industry initiative is in response to growing concerns that billions of connected devices are at risk unless security and privacy sensitive data can be managed to an acceptable level.
Tech industry attention to security has been increasing, amid growing concerns by security and privacy professionals and a prediction that failure to get security right could stall the whole IoT market, according to the IoT Security Foundation.
The tech firms have concluded that any IoT system can be compromised unless a system-level root of trust is established through a combination of code signing, encryption, and authentication.
The resulting Open Trust Protocol (OTrP) combines a secure architecture with trusted code management, using technologies proven in large-scale banking and sensitive data applications on mass-market devices such as smartphones and tablets.
The protocol set out standard practices for installing, updating and deleting applications, and to manage security configuration in a trusted execution environment (TEE).
"In an internet-connected world, it is imperative to establish trust between all devices and service providers,” said ARM security systems vice-president Marc Canel.
“Operators need to trust devices their systems interact with and OTrP achieves this in a simple way. It brings e-commerce trust architectures together with a high-level protocol that can be easily integrated with any existing platform,” he added.
Symantec estimates that one million internet attacks were carried out every day during 2015. IoT expands the attack surface and according to analyst firm Gartner, security is now the top priority when building any connected product.
The research firm has said organisations are likely to continue to underinvest in IoT security, despite the company’s predictions that more than a quarter of cyber attacks will involve IoT systems by 2020, when Gartner expects the number of connected IoT devices to have risen to around 26 billion worldwide.
OTrP is a high-level management protocol that works with security solutions such as ARM’s TrustZone-based trusted execution environments that are designed to protect mobile computing devices from malicious attack.
The protocol could pave the way for an open and interoperable standard to enable the management of trusted software without the need for a centralised database by reusing the established security architecture of e-commerce.
The lack of any robust and industry-supported standard is commonly cited as one of the biggest challenges to finding a practical way of addressing the security and privacy risks of IoT systems.
The management protocol is used with public key infrastructure (PKI) and certificate authority-based trust architectures, enabling service providers, app developers and OEMs to use their own keys to authenticate and manage trusted software and assets.
According to the group of tech firms behind its development, OTrP is a high-level and simple protocol that can be easily added to existing trusted execution environments or to microcontroller-based platforms capable of RSA cryptography.
Reference: ComputerWeekly.com
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MAP is designed to deliver the analytics layer for any Internet of Things application. As long as an entity or thing has a unique identifier then you can replicate a ‘template’ entity with one API call allowing you to rapidly create a unique entity whenever a new user signs up or a particular event occurs. This entity contains all the calculations and business logic/rules required to process the underlying raw data from the entity into the information or metrics that you need. http://www.meniscus.co.uk/market-expertise/internet-of-things/
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Google instals artificial intelligence to slash data centre energy by 40% according to an article published by edie, 21 July
Global giant Google has reduced their energy consumption at its data centres by 40% in their efforts to drive energy efficiency, after developing artificial intelligence (AI).
Google attained 3.5 times more computing power from the same amount of energy compared to five years ago.
Google has 3.5 times more computing power from the same amount of energy compared to five years ago.
Google’s data centres, powered by renewables, consume large amounts of energy during their cooling processes.
For the past decade, Google has developed the AI system using the 'DeepMind' research company to live test a system of neural networks. Basically, computer systems modelled on the human brain. This has led to a more efficient and adaptive framework for data centre management.
They trained neural networks to predict the temperature and pressure outputs within the centres, 60 minutes in advance before establishing the appropriate requirements to lower output and energy consumption.
The system also reduced Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) – the ratio of total building energy use to IT energy use by 15%. Google claims that the system established the lowest PUE the site had ever seen.
A blog post by Google’s reads: “The implications are significant for Google’s data centres, given its potential to greatly improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions overall. This will also help other companies who run on Google’s cloud to improve their own energy efficiency.
“While Google is only one of many data centre operators in the world, many are not powered by renewable energy as we are. Every improvement in data centre efficiency reduces total emissions into our environment and with technology like DeepMind’s, we can use machine learning to consume less energy and help address one of the biggest challenges of all -- climate change.”
By encouraging lower energy consumption and switching to renewables, Google has attained 3.5 times more computing power from the same amount of energy compared to five years ago.
Google is planning to introduce the system to a broader base and is actively encouraging other data centres and industrial system operators to adopt the framework. Google also hopes that the technology could be used to improve power plant conversion efficiency. This is already in the planning stage in Alabama – and reducing semiconductor manufacturing footprints.
For tech-type companies, the dynamic environments of data centres can make them difficult to operate efficiently because each centre usually operates to their own individual system meaning a custom-tuned energy efficiency model would need to be created.
This challenge hasn’t deterred major technology companies investing in ways to improve data centre efficiency. Microsoft is looking to combat the growth and electricity consumption of its data centres. They are adding more clean sources to its energy mix in an attempt to reach a 60% renewables target within the next 10 years.
Facebook too announced plans for a new data centre to be built in Ireland which will run on 100% renewable energy using the country's wind resources.
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MAP delivers advanced energy management capabilities by giving users the ability to monitor the performance of their most energy-intensive processes in a building or site such as; pumping, refrigeration, ventilation. MAP can deliver the key metrics to identify process inefficiencies as well as modelling complex electricity tariffs, providing real-time energy metrics and much more. http://www.meniscus.co.uk/market-expertise/energy-management-analytics/
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Bus Stops get Smart IoT Technology
Billions of devices will be connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) by 2020. Sensors receive and analyse data and communicate with the outside world to create smarter and more attractive environments, products and services. This change is designated to be bigger than before and after the advent of the Internet and Smartphones.
Cities around the world have embraced the idea of smart technology. New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) has introduced a platform to improve the movement of traffic information at New York City bus stops with the help of IoT technology.
How this works is solar cell-powered traffic information signs are equipped with a Multiphoton intra-pulse interference phase scan (MIIPS), which receives real-time information via the Internet from a GPS-connected server on the buses. This makes it it possible to tell riders how many stops away their bus is.
Fältcom the masterminds behind the system, CEO Mikael Långström says, ‘Technology today is contributing to develop the distribution of traffic information and facilitate travel in a metropolis like New York City. Companies like Fältcom will continue developing these solutions together with the traffic operators and the passengers for many years to come”.
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Meniscus Analytics Platform is designed to deliver the analytics layer for any Internet of Things application. As long as an entity or thing has a unique identifier then you can replicate a ‘template’ entity with one API call allowing you to rapidly create a unique entity whenever a new user signs up or a particular event occurs. This entity contains all the calculations and business logic/rules required to process the underlying raw data from the entity into the information or metrics that you need.
MAP has the underlying capability to scale to hundreds of thousands of entities and delivers a lightning fast calculation of the underlying metrics. http://www.meniscus.co.uk/market-expertise/internet-of-things/
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Meniscus Analytics Platform is designed to deliver the analytics layer for any Internet of Things application. As long as an entity or thing has a unique identifier then you can replicate a ‘template’ entity with one API call allowing you to rapidly create a unique entity whenever a new user signs up or a particular event occurs. This entity contains all the calculations and business logic/rules required to process the underlying raw data from the entity into the information or metrics that you need.
MAP has the underlying capability to scale to hundreds of thousands of entities and delivers a lightning fast calculation of the underlying metrics. 1
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