Study: Cloud computing for business uses less energy

A Microsoft-sponsored analysis released today reaffirms what many tech companies have long been saying: computing is more efficient when it's concentrated in the "cloud" at giant data centers.

The range of savings from having hosted, versus an on-premise, IT infrastructure is between 30 percent and 90 percent, according to the study which was done by Accenture and sustainability consulting company WSP Energy & Environment.

Sustainability tour stop: LED lights at the Improvement Centre

ere are some shots from The Sustainability Initiative tour stop on Oct. 25 at Improvement Centre, Bleiswijk, The Netherlands. The facility is involved in testing the use of Philips LED lights in the greenhouse setting. Below is a profile of what the facility is all about, provided to tour participants:


The Improvement Centre is the key practical centre for the most optimal cultivation processes. Research and experiments are conducted related to cultivation processes and techniques.

Republican wants to keep global warming committee

WASHINGTON: A leading House Republican climate skeptic on Monday called for his party to preserve a global warming committee created by Democrats so Republicans can use it to rein in the Obama administration on the issue.

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, a Republican, said that the economic threat posed by Environmental Protection Agency regulations deserves special attention in the next Congress.

A Novel Tactic in Climate Fight Gains Some Traction

WASHINGTON — With energy legislation shelved in the United States and little hope for a global climate change agreement this year, some policy experts are proposing a novel approach to curbing global warming: including greenhouse gases under an existing and highly successful international treaty ratified more than 20 years ago

The treaty, the Montreal Protocol, was adopted in 1987 to for a completely different purpose, to eliminate aerosols and other chemicals that were blowing a hole in the Earth’s protective ozone layer.

Climate change: Bangladesh's case

AT the advent of the new concept called "anthropogenic accelerated climate change," there have been numerous discussions across the globe regarding highly vulnerable countries and communities, their urgent and immediate needs for response measures (partly adaptation) and institutional as well as financial mechanisms to do so.

There have been many attempts by international media as well as global scientific community to portray Bangladesh as one of the most vulnerable countries. It is claimed that climate change will exacerbate the current contexts of vulnerability that are prevailing in the country and the resulting adverse effects will challenge the development thrust.

GOP leadership cool to hearings into "scientific fraud" underlying global warming

By Greg Sargent

Last week there was widespread speculation that the GOP is planning to hold high profile hearings next year into the "scientific fraud" behind global warming. The news touched off a round of anxious commentary among liberals about the coming rash of GOP investigations and fake scandals.

The only problem is that it may not be true.

A spokesman for the leading Republican on the committee that would undertake such hearings tells me that isn't the plan. And a senior GOP leadership aide says the leadership is cool to the idea.

2012, forecasts and pragmatism

By Emmenay

So, is the world as we know it, coming to an end in 2012? Is the Mayan calendar going to prove that it is absolutely right? Are we ready for the Apocalypse? What about the second coming of Jesus Christ (PBUH)? What about the Gog and the Magog and the anti-Christ? Is all this going to take place and be over within two years from now? Hmm...

The fact is that some of us are very fatalistic at times. Sometimes this becomes too much and beyond reason. On the contrary if we start being serious about everything that is practical and pragmatic and prevent the reality of things from being hushed into the background, only then will our coming