Power Assure, Inc. has announced that its EM/4 Dynamic Power Management (DPM) solution and PAR4/UL2640 for IT equipment baseline measurements are the foundation of a new United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) baseline and monitoring methodology, AM0105: “Energy efficiency in data centres through dynamic power management.”
This methodology is based on the new protocol NM0350 “Improving Energy Efficiency in Data Centers through Dynamic Power Management” prepared and proposed by Power Assure and Carbonomics, a leader in helping businesses realize the potential of carbon credits in the US and international emission-trading markets.
The new UN methodology will help data centers realize potential energy savings and carbon reduction, especially in the Asia-Pacific region and other developing countries where carbon emission reduction credits can be traded and sold to buyers in industrialized countries that have reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol. Trading of these emission credits, under Kyoto’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), is now a multi-billion dollar market. With financial incentives, data centers can move from an “always-on” model to an “always-available” model, where only the amount of equipment needed to support actual application demand runs, unlike today, when all servers, storage and cooling equipment is turned on in expectation of a utilization spike, irrespective of the actual need.
“CDM certification expands Power Assure’s value proposition to include carbon emission management, thus enabling data center operators to monetize efficiency efforts in the global carbon markets,” said Brad Wurtz, president and CEO, Power Assure. “This is a ‘first to market’ solution in what is becoming a huge market: increasing the efficiency and lowering the power cost and associated carbon usage of the rapidly expanding growth of data centers across the globe. To expedite and simplify the approval process for our customers, we have partnered with Carbonomics who has the expertise necessary to move projects quickly through the CDM system.”
The data center market is growing rapidly in Asia Pacific and other developing country markets, and will represent a significant proportion (over 10 percent) of total grid loads in some regions. According to the 2011 Gartner Data Center Market Study, the number of data centers of all sizes in developing countries is increasing rapidly compared to rest of world. As such, this methodology, for the first time, provides a mechanism for the data center to monetize their operational IT efficiency improvements, getting CERs (Certified Emission Reductions) that have corporate market and image value, as well as monetary value in the international carbon markets.
To support this methodology, Power Assure and Carbonomics are setting up a program to make it easy for data centers in developing countries to participate and generate carbon credits. Using its award winning EM/4 data center management software services, Power Assure and Carbonomics will provide the tools, methodologies and the necessary know-how to setup Dynamic Power Management in a way acceptable for carbon credit generation and ultimate monetization.
