BC is a leader in cleantech, which is outpacing other sectors; the smart grid appliance market is on a growth path as ENMAX and Cisco collaborate in Calgary, and Accenture and Capgemini get serious; soundwaves reduce power consumption; Enbridge sees green....and: low energy servers, Intel's green side, Fujitsu's 'Carbon Trust Standard', a new power management design guide, and Microsoft's Joulemeter solution.

BC emerging as cleantech leader

Clean-tech sector executives, the Independent Power Producers Association of BC, and the BC Technology Association are part of a CleanWorks BC collaboration formed last year as a vehicle to promote British Columbia’s clean technology and services sectors – believed to be the third largest. Additional support has been provided by the province, the Vancouver Economic Development Commission and the University of BC.

Cleantech continues to outpace other sectors

The cleantech sector remained strong throughout 2009, especially when compared to other industries, and it is expected to continue expanding and remain dominant through 2010, with a flurry of acquisitions and consolidation transactions. 

Sound waves may reduce power consumption

Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) has launched an effort to replace the mechanical compressors in refrigerators and air conditioners with thermoacoustic compressors.  Thermoacoustic compressors essentially compress or expand gases with high-intensity sound waves. Compressing gases generates heat, while letting the gases expand cools things off.

New clean energy fund

A new global fund that invests in the world’s top clean-energy companies has been launched in Canada by Criterion Investments Ltd, which sees huge opportunity in efforts to “de-carbonize” the environment. Ian McPherson, president of Criterion, an affiliate of VenGrowth Asset Management Inc of Toronto, said clean energy has matured beyond being a niche sector that until recently could only be tapped by seeking out and placing bets on individual companies.

Smart grid appliance market may reach $15B by 2015

The global household smart appliance market is projected to grow from $3.06 billion in 2011 to $15.12 billion in 2015, according to the new “Smart Appliance Report” from Zpryme. Looking at the top product types projected for smart grid interoperability, in 2015 the global market size for smart washers and smart refrigerators, respectively, will reach $3.54 billion and $2.69 billion.

Enbridge getting warm

Calgary-based pipeline and power giant Enbridge Inc has already invested heavily in such renewable electricity areas as wind and solar; now it has turned its attention to geothermal energy projects in British Columbia and elsewhere in North America. Enbridge said would likely partner with companies that have been studying the potential of tapping natural geothermal from deeply buried hot water or steam, known as a geothermal reservoir.

ENMAX Corporation and Cisco collaborate on Calgary smart grid project   

Cisco Systems and Canadian utility ENMAX announced their collaboration on the development of ENMAX's next-generation utility model to further Calgary's energy management and efficiency goals. Cisco is helping to advance ENMAX's Smart Grid vision including building energy management, residential energy management, data centre readiness, system security and renewable energy optimization. ENMAX and Cisco will work together on technologies to enable automated demand-response management with commercial and industrial customers. These technologies will be the basis for solutions that enable the ENMAX group of companies and their customers to optimize power usage throughout their operations.

Accenture and Capgemini like the smart grid

Consulting firm Accenture has launched Intelligent Network Data Enterprise (INDE), a data management platform aimed at helping utilities design, deploy and manage smart grids. And Capgemini has announced the launch of Smart Energy Services, a new service line that offers the full spectrum of smart metering, smart grid, smart home solutions and smart analytics.

Microsoft product measures software energy use

The Joulemeter solution, announced at Microsoft’s recent TechFest event, measures the energy usage of virtual machines, servers, desktops, laptops and even individual pieces of software.  According to Microsoft, Joulemeter estimates the energy usage by measuring the hardware resources (CPU, disk, memory, screen, etc.) being used and converting it to actual power usage based on automatically learned power models.

CSCI releases power management design guide

The Climate Savers Computing Initiative (CSCI) has produced a reference document on how to build energy‐efficient, power‐managed client platforms.  The guide particularly addresses Standby mode, known as S3 under the computer industry standard Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI).  S3 is seen as the best trade‐off between power savings and the ability to wake quickly and begin doing work.

Bloom Energy releases low-emission server

Bloom Energy released a low-emission energy server with a fuel cell that was developed at NASA as part of its plan for planetary exploration. Bloom Energy says its fuel cells are twice as efficient as the competitions.

New green Intel developments

Intel’s research labs have developed a microprocessor that produces up to 41% more throughput using the same amount of energy as a comparable conventional core. The advantage comes from the fact that the core includes distributed sensors and error detectors that enable the automatic reissue of instructions or automatic adaptation of the operating conditions to achieve error-free performance.

Fujitsu achieves ‘Carbon Trust Standard’

Fujitsu UK and Ireland has achieved the ‘Carbon Trust Standard’ for reducing its carbon footprint. The Carbon Trust is a not-for-profit company set up by the UK Government to take the lead in helping businesses and the public sector cut carbon emissions and save energy.