IT and the Future of Oil

There are many influential people across the globe who believe that the availability of oil against demand has peaked and that we are now hurtling uncontrollably towards what might be called the post hydrocarbon man’ period where the oil based goods and services we have taken for granted become only affordable to a limited few. Given the role the IT industry has in the consumption of oil through component development and operational delivery, it is appalling to see how off the pace we are in the data centre.

Only market forces will stimulate a change in this situation. Users will eventually boycott organisations with poor green credentials as will corporate buyers. But it is taking time to come into effect.

I would like to see a smarter relationship between business and society. Rather than pump all that surplus heat out into the atmosphere, why not set one’s data centres up next to, for example, sports centres? The excess heat could be used to heat the swimming pool. Or funnel the excess heat into some type of biosphere construction thus enabling the production of tropical fruit in non-tropical countries. Just a thought.

(For more on this you may want to read Lean & Green — Reducing Energy Drain for IT Business Gain)