Cows find a place in IT ecosystem

Soon, cow dung may light up data centres!

PTI | May 19, 2010



The multifarious use of cow dung gets wider if the computer major HP's research finding is anything to go by.

While the use of this waste material as cooking fuel, manure and bio-gas is not new, it has the potential to generate power to run data centres, says a research by HP Labs.

In a research paper presented at the ASME International Conference on Energy Sustainability by HP Labs (the computer major HP's central research arm) shows that manure of cows can be used to generate waste-derived power, which will be supplied to data centres.

The research suggests that a farm of 10,000 dairy cows could fulfill the power requirements of a one-megawatt data centre (equivalent of a medium-sized data centre) and surplus power left over to support other needs on the farm.

"A medium-sized dairy farm with 10,000 cows produces about two lakh metric tonnes of manure per year. About, 70 per cent of the energy in the methane generated via anaerobic digestion could be used for data centre power and cooling, thus reducing the impact on natural resources," HP said.

Today, when the call for data centre efficiency is growing louder amid depleting non-renewable sources of energy, the move might present an alternative to the needs of enterprise.

HP researchers estimate that dairy farmers would break even within the first two years of using a system like this and then, earn roughly USD 2 million annually in revenue from selling waste-derived power to data centre customers.

"Using animal waste to generate power has been around for centuries...The new idea that we are presenting is to create a symbiotic relationship between farms and the IT ecosystem that can benefit the farm, the data centers and the environment," Tom Christian, principal research scientist, Sustainable IT Ecosystem Lab at HP said.
 

Comments

 

Other News

Gandhian movement after Gandhi failed: Ram Guha

The Gandhian movement in India, after Gandhi’s death, failed, says Ramachandra Guha, and blames Vinoba Bhave for it. But the movement found new, fertile grounds around the world and succeeded in bringing about a change in South Africa, the US and elsewhere. It is high time it returned home. Of cour

When religion, politics and Bollywood come together

Tavleen Singh, noted journalist and political commentator, has turned to fiction, with her debut novel ‘The Actor’ (HaperCollins India). Set in the near future, it has a superstar, Amit Singh, turning to politics, when the political landscape is dominated by prime minister Guru Gaynendraj

Cabinet approves setting up of Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority

The union cabinet, chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved the setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), called Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority (ITLA), to strengthen research, planning, appraisal, monitoring and impact assessment within the broad domains of Transp

Why foundational literacy and numeracy is key to school education

Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) are often described as the building blocks of education. Yet, their significance goes well beyond a child’s ability to read a sentence, write a response or solve a basic mathematical problem. These foundational skills shape how children understand the world,

When police data becomes the algorithm

For decades, policing has followed a familiar sequence: a crime occurs, the police respond, an investigation produces records and those records become part of the institutional memory of the criminal justice system. Artificial intelligence is beginning to alter that sequence. Instead of merely recording

Before India voted, the framers worried about the referee

“We are making a Constitution forever and not only for today.” Shibban Lal Saksena said this in the Constituent Assembly on June 15, 1949. He was warning that a ruling party might one day choose a loyalist to run India’s elections. Seventy-seven years later, the Supreme Court is wrestli

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter