tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39071696328478514522024-03-05T07:25:15.597+01:00Sustainability and Media Technologypargmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208443783482286491noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-85589510279198646012013-10-19T18:01:00.002+02:002013-10-19T18:01:26.374+02:00Godmorgon, Världen - Oljans roll i världen<a href="http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=438&artikel=5671620">http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=438&artikel=5671620</a><br />
<br />
Bra och relativt kort genomgång av oljekrisen som fyller fyrtio, samt lite nutidsanalys. Hur vi visserligen minskat vårt oljeberoende sedan krisen, men endast genom att plocka "de lågt hängande frukterna", dvs. främst elproduktionen. Transporten av folk och varor är en svårare nöt att knäcka. Av Lena Bejerot, ur förra veckans "Godmorgon, Världen!".Axelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15479790458373033329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-20268714412255336972013-10-17T16:50:00.000+02:002013-10-19T08:05:19.313+02:00Fur or no fur?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Every day I take my bike to school, and every day I pass by Stureplan,
where I every day have to stop at the red traffic light. Yesterday at this very
traffic light I saw a lady in a long mink fur coat, which got me thinking.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I
know that fur coats and leather jackets are banned by the animal rights activists,
but what if you consider this from an environmental perspective? If mankind
will continue to eat meat, which I am sure a lot of people will, and if you know
that the fur or leather is made from 100% meat-bi-products, wouldn't it be more
environmentally sustainable to wear leather jackets and fur coats rather than Gore-Tex
jackets? I assume that the market value of mink meat is not that great, which
would have to disqualify the lady’s mink fur coat from this particular discussion. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
What do you think, is it time to re-evaluate the fur coats?<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15437675860240983228noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-2178513495772555482013-10-15T08:58:00.000+02:002013-10-15T08:58:13.398+02:00KollapsDuring this course I've read the book Kollaps: livet vid civilisationens slut (Collapse: Life at the end of civilisation) by David Jonstad (http://libris.kb.se/bib/12341653). It has proven to be a good companion during the course and has had a somewhat similar chronology. I would like to take this opportunity to give you a short summary and my views of this book.<br />
<br />
The book begins by summing up what has lead us to the brink of collapse. As you might expect, this first part is about peak oil, peak everything and us picking the "low hanging fruits". At the same time this has created a ever increasing growth. These factors in turn lead to an unequal world where wealth is amassed in the rich part of the world and production is done in the poor part of the world. The equality issue together with the triple-E-crisis (energy, ecology, economy) can only result in one thing: collapse.<br />
<br />
So, what do we know about collapse? Jonstad spends the second part of the book about the collapse of complex societies in history. The Roman empire and its emperors tackled every crisis by adding more complexity: more advanced administration and bureaucracy. The people involved in this administration, an emerging middle class, had to get their food from others by increased taxes and invasion of foregin territory. The increased flow of money forced the emperors to reduce the amount of precious metals in coins creating inflation. The "hordes of barbarians" had to be kept out by investing in a large army. Jonstad tells a similar story about the Mayan empire. We all know that these societies or civilisations collapsed and Jonstad argues that it was the ever-increasing complexity that is the reason.<br />
<br />
So how might we make our society more resilient to a collapse? The third and last part of the book is about the future. Jonstad offers critique of the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap) and argues that Sweden can't cope with more than two weeks without electricity on a regional level. The batteries and generators that keep the banks' databases going won't keep up that long. Sweden doesn't keep any food or water reserves that would last for long if the international distribution lines would be cut off. In short: we are not a resilient society. To be more resilient and more sustainable we need to increase our <i>self-</i>sustainability, both on local, regional and national levels.<br />
<br />
So what do I feel after reading such a book? Well, I don't feel depressed and I don't feel like I've turned into a <i>prepper</i>. But I do feel that I would like to improve my possibilities of self-sustainability. It doesn't mean that I will turn my back on society and move to a bunker in Värmland. What I would like is to learn some skills that will make me and my family more resilient. I am planning to do some more serious growing at our cottage (kale seems like a good place to start). Also, I will do my best to avoid debts.<br />
<br />
It was nice to read this book in parallel with the course as its content overlapped a lot. But I would still recommend it to anyone interested in sustainability. If you would like to read it you can borrow it from me (after Evert's done with it) so that we can prove that paper is still more sustainable than e-books... ;)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12077307665442813848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-43012324985881477492013-10-12T14:14:00.001+02:002013-10-12T14:15:31.474+02:00The Most Terrifying VideoOk I know I've already written my blog post, but I just have to share this one with you. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://youtu.be/zORv8wwiadQ" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">One Guy With A Marker Just Made The Global Warming Debate Completely Obsolete</span></a><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408378153854968707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-80077281996289895232013-10-09T12:16:00.001+02:002013-10-09T12:16:18.033+02:00Follow-up on the "Blok"-based phone, is the idea something that can be achieved?<div class="p1">
Nice post Zahra!</div>
<div class="p1">
I have to say I Do like the idea and I thought that I would post my comment rather as a new post instead of a reply since it also adresses my personal concerns. </div>
<div class="p1">
As much as I think it would be nice to have a environmentally sustainable phone I'm still not really convinced that a "blok"-based phone is something that people would like to have. As much as we need to reverse the escalating trend in waste from thrown away phones, we first and foremost need to adress the mindset of the people consuming them, don't you think?</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Even if we launch the idea of a "green" phone, do people want one? We can't take for granted people genuinely care about the environment. In the video he adresses very short that the waste is a problem, and it increases, but the rest of the promo is more about how nice it would be to have an upgradable phone, instead of focusing on letting the audience know Why we need it (i.e. less waste compared to an ordinary phone).</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Since the increased demand from smartphones today are most likely because of the technological advancement in creating smaller and smaller components and better systems I think it is hard to propose an option to that development that contradicts that trend. The phone will most likely be bigger, heavier, and more "bulky". People who buy a smartphone are not prone to lean on these types of features: they want a sexy, slim and aerodynamically formed gadget that feels good in the hand. I can't image a "blok"-based phone appeal to that consumer. Therefore I think the bigger issue is to change the mindset of the people buying them. Buying a "green" car today can be "sexy", but it took years and years of good PR, what will it take for the phonemakers and the industry as a whole to succed in doing this?</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="p1">
Will it even work?</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-85810048642953888792013-10-09T10:34:00.002+02:002013-10-09T17:41:27.982+02:00The economic divideAt Daniel Pargmans lecture concerning rebound effects, he talked about how convinience makes us travel more by car, train and airplane. He also said that as price goes down, consumption goes up, a rebound effect from better production efficiency in the industry. Well, this got me thinking about the economic divide, and its effects. <br />
<br />
Some would argue that the economic divide is not sustainable from a social perspective. I fully agree and do not much care for a pure market economy where the rich will always get richer and the poor, poorer. (I need to state this clearly: I am a socialist, don't hang me for the following)<br />
<br />
But on the other hand: Isn't it better to have this divide from an ecological perspective? As people get richer, their CO2 emissions rise. They can more easily afford to buy a car, a cellphone, a computer, etc., as the cost is lower relative to their income (similar to lower prices). More would have the option to go abroad during holidays and eat better food and more meat. <br />
<br />
"But won't the rich do less than today, and even things out?", you might think.<br />
Well, for that I want you to have a look at this <a href="http://www.upworthy.com/9-out-of-10-americans-are-completely-wrong-about-this-mind-blowing-fact-2" target="_blank">video</a> (6:24). <br />
It explains how people in America think about how wealth is distributed, and what the real numbers in fact are.<br />
<br />
If you know the numbers, you will probably say something like: <br />
"Well they (the rich) can only do so much, while the rest could do much more. Distributing that wealth would probably augment CO2 levels and the use of scarce materials immensely. We should probably continue as we were!"<br />
<br />
Comments? Thoughts?kristian orellanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577905352000544443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-64506834816452085382013-10-08T03:33:00.004+02:002013-10-08T17:44:12.059+02:00Heavy conscience and Ghost cities<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">By now, we've
been to several lectures about sustainability and read many pages on the
subject, from different perspectives. And we should all understand that oil is
really bad, and dude, never get a car, because I already have one and it's not going to work out if you get one too.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It seems
easy to forget that sustainable development is three dimensional. Some people
think about the environment. Some about making money. A few might think about
the society in which they live. However sustainability is about all of this, economics,
ecology and society. Every change in one of them will somehow affect the other
two. It is easy to understand that, without our planet, there will be no
economy and no people. But we must not forget about the other parts as well,
for it is the economy that drives us selfish humans and our society forward.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As a Swede
living in Stockholm, I somehow feel that my impact on the environment is of
little importance. Let me explain what I mean by talking about cities, how we
live and how we transport ourselves around in them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">USA - They
started it</span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
American suburbs are a good starting point for our trip. Because of the cheap
oil for fuel, cities were designed with residential suburbs with large
comfortable houses, far away from the office buildings in the city.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Even though
Qatar is in first place 2013, the USA is (beaten by Australia in 2009) still in
the top 12 when it comes to CO2 per capita. Does it really matter though? If we
look at emissions per country instead, it is only second to China.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The United
States has huge unpaid bills coming due for its infrastructure. There are
plenty of pot holes to fill. Considering the national debt and high costs of
investments in infrastructure, it seems unlikely that the US government would in
any near future encourage a scrapping of highways in favor for public
transportation like high speed trains. We shouldn't forget that the New York
City Subway is the world's largest rapid transit though, however I don't see
any new upcoming investments for the long distances. And who pays the bill for
the current infrastructure then? Probably private-sector capital and revenue sources
like tolls.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When I
think about the future of America, I can't help to think about the post
apocalyptic settings from the game <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaqxtVWO6POZRaBcGzf3afjKx3KC3qsEUkw16ex0cjjZWC9YfZFS3JgGOyUZjRxMzxe3QkGeefKVIDU9tPhIcexafQTuIHX1GnWypGzRWZyW8pNVYK2GGDLZodk1RAg0M-9hB-2MeLbe0/s640/Fallout3+2012-09-26+13-54-34-55.bmp.jpg" target="_blank">Fallout 3</a>. Somehow, they've done their part
in history.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Sweden - Development
hibernation</span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Stockholm. I
feel like time is standing still. Sure, there is always some small development
going on. But if we compare this city to other places in the world, nothing
much is really happening regarding construction work of infrastructure and
buildings. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It is
estimated that the population growth in Stockholm will be about 20,000 people
per year (figures vary from starting below 10,000 up to 30,000) . Still, in my
opinion, the city lacks adequate development planning for future residential
areas and communication.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the 1940's,
there were grand plans for the city. satellite towns were built and along with
them came more infrastructure. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The first
metro line in Stockholm opened in 1950, and the latest in 1975.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Last time a
large road was constructed was in 1966 when the <i>Essingeleden</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>road was inaugurated. Since then, not much
has happened regarding road or rail constructions in Stockholm, with the
exception of a small addition called the Southern Link in 2004 and the the <i>Tvärbanan </i>tram in 2000. There are also plans on another major road <i>Förbifart Stockholm</i>, but the completion of that is at least 8 years away from now. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">From the
ecological perspective, lack of development is probably a good thing. With hope
to stir up a discussion, I would argue that this has been bad for the
economical and social development of the city of Stockholm.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01763/stockholm-river_1763309b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01763/stockholm-river_1763309b.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, just
as I like to lighten my conscience about the environment by comparing myself
and my home city to other places I find far worse regarding emissions and
sustainable development, It is easy to understand that there are a number of
aware people in the US with a heavy conscience for their wasteful culture.
Maybe that's why the idea of Tiny Homes has been conceived, a compact living concept.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In Sweden
we've have the concept <i>Friggebod </i>for a while. It's basically a small house that
can be built without any special building permit. Most commonly used as a guest
house or storage. It is rather out of context, I just mention it as a
comparison to the Tiny Homes idea. Or maybe I chose the <i>Friggebod</i> as an unconscious
comparison as to how insignificant we are as a nation in the global
sustainability issue. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, <a href="http://youtu.be/ZzVFSpwzuKQ?t=9m10s" target="_blank">here's</a> an
example of a <i>Friggebod </i>if you don't know what it is.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A housing
trend has apparently hit America. They call it Tiny Homes. <a href="http://samuel-warde.com/2013/09/tiny-homes-wave-future/" target="_blank">Check out the video and listen to Jay Shafer's talk about American housing.</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Will this
idea attract enough people to matter at all?</span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br clear="all" style="mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" />
</span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There is a consensus
among national governments in favour of densely populated cities as a way to
improve the ecological performance of the transport system. This is considered <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>true because the commuting length becomes
shorter if homes and businesses are located in tall buildings close to each
other. However as land rents in the city centre rise, people move to suburbs
and in return this generates more pollution from transportation. And the
concept of compact living and urbanization leads us on to talk about what is
going on in China.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">China -
Focus on GDP growth</span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the past
30 years, China's urban population has increased to 700 million from less than
200 million</span>. The aim is to have 60% of the 1.4 billion population as
urban residents by 2020.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Some of China's
economical goals for 2013:</span></div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: SV;">GDP 7.5%</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: SV;">Add more than 9 million urban jobs (Like Sweden's total population)</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: SV;">Keep registered urban unemployment rate at or below 4.6% </span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: SV;">To reach these goals, the government is constructing whole new cities to
speed up urbanization. And the strangest thing of it all, estimated figures say
that there might be as many as 64 million empty apartments as a result of this
construction boom! The problem is that the people that are supposed to move there, don't have the money to do so.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InqAzvX6UrI" target="_blank">Check out this fascinating video about the Chinese Ghost Cities - 60 Minutes Report</a></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">After
having watched this video, perhaps your focus will be somewhere else as well.
Do you think this development can be considered sustainable from an
environmental, social or in the long run economical perspective? What can we do
about this?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If you feel
that you don't have enough to read already, you could have a look at this
<a href="https://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/6384-China-s-cities-focused-on-GDP-growth-not-climate-change-adaptation" target="_blank">interesting article</a> about how China's focus is on GDP growth and not climate
change. It also mentions China's Climate Change Policy.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #20124d;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408378153854968707noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-18093864060671825592013-10-05T17:07:00.000+02:002013-10-05T17:17:40.652+02:00Phonebloks - the future for a longer lasting phone?<div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I somehow came across this
video that caught my attention. It's a video that proposes an idea of
how we can stop wasting electronic devices so much (and so often),
and more specifically in this video how to keep your mobile phone
last longer – with a new kind of phone that is made of detachable
blocks.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-US">When mobile phones
are continuously being developed with more and yet more advanced
features and sold in the market, sooner or later you will come to a
point where you realize that your still two-year-old phone is already
considered ancient. This will often lead you to the decision to go
ahead and throw away your already Stone Aged phone to buy a new,
modern, better, faster, thinner phone.</span><span lang="en-US"> </span><span lang="en-US">And
here is where the idea in the video comes in.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-US">Instead of getting
rid of the whole phone just to replace one or two certain components,
how about actually buying those two new components and building them
into your phone yourself? They call all these different components in
a phone for “blocks”, thus naming the phone “Phonebloks”.
Whenever you want to upgrade something, you can just pull that block
out from the back of your phone and replace it with the newer one.
The rest of the phone usually works fine except for just that one
thing, be it the camera or the storage space that you want upgraded.
This way, you would save the environment from wasting the whole phone
and instead just throw away one small piece of it. This solution
would lead to much less mobile phone waste.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-US">How or whether this
idea would actually work in reality is not clear, but it sure is a
clever and interesting idea in my opinion. You can customize the
phone with whatever “blocks” (components) you want, so I see
great potential for it to be successful. Some user comments state
that this can't work technically while others are more positive. I
don't think it's impossible since we have invented and developed a
lot of things today that in the past was considered “not or
probably not possible”. Think of the upcoming curved phones, for
instance. This idea of a phone is brought up with the environment in
mind. I think the development of technology and technical devices
should work more towards this mindset and promote the
environmentally-friendly aspects of the new devices, rather than
solely focus on the new features.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span lang="en-US">The video promoting
the idea is 2:47 minutes long. You can watch it here:</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDAw7vW7H0c"><span lang="en-US">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDAw7vW7H0c</span></a><br />
<br />
<span lang="en-US">
</span>
<span lang="en-US"> </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-89627198449586665742013-10-04T09:30:00.000+02:002013-10-04T09:30:03.825+02:00Feedapp won the Green Awards<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="font-family: Helvetica;">
.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-family: Helvetica;">
I just got a mail [in Swedish] from a student who took the course last year. With her permission, I share it with you.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-family: Helvetica;">
---------------</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-family: Helvetica;">
Hej Daniel,</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<br /><div>
Jag hoppas att allt är bra med dig! </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Jag vet inte om du kommer ihåg men när vi hade kursen Hållbarhet och Medieteknik H12 skulle vi komma på ett sätt att hjälpa samhället på en av seminarier.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Min ide (se bifogade fil) handlade om att ha app som hjälper människor att hitta varor som har kort bästföredatum i matbutiker som ligger i närheten. Jag ville bara meddela att de iden finns som app, men den är inte skapad av mig :-(</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Appen heter Feedapp och den vann Green Awards i år! ( <a href="http://www.feedapp.se/">http://www.feedapp.se/</a>). Synd att jag inte utvecklade appen själv eftersom jag tyckte att det borde hade funkat!!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Jag tyckte att det skulle vara roligt att dela detta med dig</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
MVH</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Connie Huanca</div>
<div>
Master HCI-Student</div>
<div>
.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
pargmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208443783482286491noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-26837099414245766902013-09-29T08:58:00.000+02:002013-09-29T08:58:00.415+02:00The energy footprint of online avatars.<br />
<br />
Are virtual worlds environmentally sustainable? Based on such
thoughts, Nicholas Carr wrote a blog post some time ago, in
December 2006, about how much power we use when we use virtual worlds.
It provoked strong reactions, not the least because the title of his
text was "<a href="http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2006/12/avatars_consume.php">Avatars consume as much electricity as Brazilians</a>".
Still years and years laters, texts (such as this one :-) about avatars,
eletricity, climate impact and Brazilians show up like a
jack-in-the-box. I will here go through Nick’s line of reasoning and the
criticism he encountered before I go on and analyze the ways in which
we can think about these issues. It would be nice to eventually come around and write about the power consumption
and carbon footprint of PCs and data centers. Computer servers consume
one percent or so of the world electricity supply. That might not sound
like much, but their power consumption grows by 15-20% per year (which
is equivalent to a fivefold increase in 10 years). <br />
<br />
At the time when Nick Carr posted is question, the virtual world <a href="http://secondlife.com/">Second Life</a>
was visited by somewhere between 10 000 and 15 000 avatars at any one
time. To run it all, no less than 4000 servers were required. In the
absence of actual figures as to the electricity consumption of the
company that runs Second Life - <a href="http://lindenlab.com/">Linden Lab</a>
- Nick made a few assumptions: - Each server in Linden Lab’s data
center burns through 200 watts and then uses an additional 50 watts to
cool the data center. - Every home computer that is connected to Second
Life uses 120 watts. <br />
<br />
This would mean that the 4 000
servers in question use (4 000 servers) x (250 watts) x (24 hours) = 24
000 kWh (kilowatt hours) each day. Additionally, the power consumption
of all home computers is (12 500 PCs on average) x (120 watts) x (24
hours) = 36 000 kWh each day. Altogether these computers and servers
would thus use 60 000 kWh per day and if we divide this electricity
consumption between 12 500 avatars, each of them would use 4.8 kWh for
each 24 hours of existence in the game/virtual world Second Life. <br />
<br />
How
much is 4.8 kWh per day then? Well, it adds up over the days and months
and becomes 1750 kWh per year which is comparable with the electricity
consumption per capita in Brazil (according to the 2003 data that Nick
had access to).<br />
<br />
In the ensuing discussion, Nick was
quickly corrected by a person who was employed by Linden Lab.
Previously, each computer server ran a "region" in the game but now, a
server may run up to four "regions". The correct figures for Linden
Lab’s electricity consumption is therefore (1 000 servers) x (225 watts)
x (24 hours) = 5 400 kWh per day - that is, less than 1/4 of the
original estimate (which, however was based on a fuzzy statement by the
CEO of Linden Lab). The new figures gives that an avatar consumes
approximately 1 200 kWh per year instead of 1 750 kWh, and that Linden
Lab’s servers account for a relatively small part of that power
consumption while the home computers account for more than 85% of the
total power consumption. <br />
<br />
Almost six months later
(May 2007), Nick is once more corrected when a new, better-informed (?)
employee from Linden Lab presents new figures. To begin with, the
average number of avatars are now 30 000, and the number of servers has
risen to 2 000. In addition, both servers and home PCs draw
significantly more power when the run Second Life. Now, Linden Lab’s
power consumption is instead (2 000 servers) x (500 watts) x (24 hours) =
24 000 kWh. The rule of thumb is that for every watt that a server
uses, the same amount of energy is needed to cool the data center where
the server is housed. Power consumption at home is estimated to be (30
000 computers) x (250 watts) x (24 hours) = 180 000 kWh per day. In
total, these 204 000 kWh divided into 30 000 avatars becomes 6.8 kWh per
day. That is equivalent to 2 500 kWh per year and the home computer
accounts for almost 90% of the total power consumption. Latvia, Romania
and Argentina are a few countries that had a power consumption in the
neighborhood of 2 500 kWh per capita in 2005. In Sweden, we used more
than 15 000 kWh per person in 2005.<br />
<br />
Taking all of this conflict (and constantly changing) information into account, what conculsions can be drawn so far?<br />
<br />
-
The Internet changes constantly. To get current figures is like chasing
a moving target. What are the figures for Second Life right now?
According to the latest figures (Jan 2010) there are currently <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life">18 million accounts</a> (avatars) registered in Second Life, but only <a href="http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2010/01/new-year-survey.html">750 000 of them</a> (5%) log in to Second Life each month. These avatars spent a total of <a href="https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/features/blog/2009/11/02/the-second-life-economy--third-quarter-2009-in-detail">118 million hours</a> (!) in Second Life during the third quarter of 2009.<br />
<br />
-
Information about the number of servers and their power consumption
varies widely and therefore seems not be that reliable (see above).
Power consumption can obviously not have been one of the heavier costs
when running virtual worlds - or they would have kept better track of
the figures. The same has probably been true also for other companies
that rely on data centers such as Google, Flickr, Blizzard etc., but
things might be changing now as the energy prices have been marching
upwards during the last couple of years.<br />
<br />
- A computer
at work uses 120-150 watts, but a computer that runs Second Life (or
World of Warcraft or any other computer games) can use up to twice as
much power as these applications make use of your computer's
capabilities to the max. Data center use a lot of power, but you home
computer that utilizes these services draw a lot more and get less work
(computer cycles) done per unit of energy used.<br />
<br />
- It
is difficult to determine the usefulness (or damage) of using virtual
worlds. On the one hand, you use a lot less energy (and generate
considerably less pollution) if you cancel a trip and instead meet in a
virtual world. But a computer uses a lot of electricity - if the option
is an electricity-free activity (take a walk, talk to a neighbor, help
your children do their homework). <br />
<br />
- Ideas are hard to kill. Although Nick’s figures were refuted and modified immediately, the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme">meme</a>" about Second Life and the electricity consumption of Brazilians <a href="http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hh_4eJ8N4PXuE6TToc3Zq_7sf05Q">remains alive</a> and pops up now and then <a href="http://www.oneclimate.net/2008/03/14/scooters-brazilians-and-avatars/">to the chagrin of some</a>.<br />
<br />
The
main objections raised against Nick’s argument above was that no real
person is connected to Second Life 24 hours a day and that Second Life
actually had 700 000 "active user" (whatever that means) at the time. So
the power consumption of each person who used Second Life would have
been just a 50th of Nick’s original calculation. Furthermore, any
computer that is used for 24 hours a day 365 days per year uses more
energy than the average Brazilians whatever that computer is used for
(playing Second Life or doing something entirely different). <br />
<br />
Both
ways of looking at this problem is correct, but these different
perspectives choses to focus on slightly different things. Any
individual physical person who plays Second Life did that for less than
an hour a day on average and thus uses a moderate amount of energy. But
each avatar in Second Life has the same (or higher) power consumption
(per hour, per day or per year) as many people on earth have. <br />
<br />
I
think Nicholas perspective is interesting, not the least because some
information technology pundits sometimes tend to completely ignore that
computers are physical objects that have required resources (raw
materials, energy) for their manufacture, that consume electricity
throughout their lifetime, and that one day will be scrapped/recycled.
Computers obviously have an ecological footprint and the size of that
footprint should naturally be explored further. <br />
.<br />
pargmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208443783482286491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-86670449524565690982013-09-29T08:44:00.000+02:002013-09-29T08:44:00.339+02:00The energy footprint of Google searches<br />
.<br />
I like Google.
Slowly, step by step, I have started to use more and more services from
Google. It started with searches, then continued with Gmail, Google
Earth and a number of other applications and services (including
Blogger, which was bought by Google in 2003 and which provides the
technical platform for this blog).<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
I
have found almost all the services I have tried useful (for myself or
at least for someone else), but it is now time to scrutinize Google
through the lenses of my <a href="http://www.energybulletin.net/primer.php">peak oil</a>
glasses. Even if I primarily write about Google in the text that
follows, “Google” could mean any business competing with Google, or even
the entire Internet with all the services it provides to us in our
daily lives.<br />
<br />
In the beginning of this year, the young Harvard physicist Alex Wissner-Gross claimed that <a href="http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article5489134.ece">Google searches contribute significantly to CO2 emissions</a>.
The angle that the newspaper chose was that two Google searches produce
the same amount of CO2 (carbon dioxide emissions) as boiling a kettle
of water for a cup of tea, and that Google searches thus have “<span style="font-style: italic;">a definite environmental impact</span>”.
More specifically, Wissner-Gross claimed that one Google search
generates around 7 grams of CO2 emissions. The carbon dioxide originates
from producing electricity to run your computer and to run Google’s
data centers. A few grams of CO2 may not sound like much if not for the
fact that the number of Google searches each day exceeds two hundred
million searches, and <a href="http://www.clickz.com/3627303">may be closer to one billion</a> according to some sources<br />
<br />
Wissner-Gross
further claimed that the architecture of Google’s search engines was an
important factor as each Google search is distributed to several data
centers across the world that then compete against each other to find
and return the fastest answer. What you gain in speed thus comes at a
cost of higher energy consumption caused by all the extra computer
capacity (unused, misused or redundant) built into the larger system.<br />
<br />
To no one's surprise, Google rejected this interpretation and stated that the company is ”<span style="font-style: italic;">among the most efficient of all internet search providers</span>”
because their data centers are relatively energy efficient compared to
"average" data centers. Google furthermore claimed that the number 7
grams CO2 per search is ”<span style="font-style: italic;">many times too high</span>”
and that the true numbers are 0,0003 kWh of energy and 0,2 grams of CO2
emissions per search. This small amount of energy is in parity with the
energy burned by the human body in 10 seconds, and the CO2 emissions
are thousands of times lower than the CO2 emissions caused by the
average car traveling only a few kilometers. Another powerful
formulation from Google is that “<span style="font-style: italic;">In
the time it takes to do a Google search, your personal computer will
likely use more energy than we will use to answer your query</span>”.<br />
<br />
Another comparison is with the <a href="http://img.en25.com/Web/McAfee/CarbonFootprint_12pg_web_REV_NA.pdf">numbers from this report</a> (pdf) which claims that each <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_%28electronic%29">spam mail</a>
ending up in your mail box on average generates 0,3 grams of CO2
emissions (the same amount as if you drive your car 1 meter). Since the
number of spam e-mails sent during 2008 was approximately 62 000 000 000
000 (62 trillions), the total amount of CO2 emissions caused by spam is
not insignificant and more precisely corresponds with the amount of CO2
emitted by a car driving around the world 1,6 million times. If we
assume that there are about 800 million cars on Earth, then all the spam
sent during 2008 corresponds to the accumulated CO2 emissions from all
the world’s cars driving 80 kilometers each. I am not sure whether this
is much or little in a big-picture perspective, but I have no problems
being judgmental and deeming spam e-mails 100% unnecessary, and now for
yet another reason. Where are the technological and social solutions to
stop them`<br />
<br />
I saw a reference in January 2008 stating
that a "bizarre" record was broken one day in October the preceeding
year (2007). During that one day, more than 160 000 million spam e-mails
- roughly two dozen per man, woman and child on Earth - were sent.
Comparing this number with the total number of spam e-mails send during
2008 (see above), we find that the record from 2007 is actually lower
than the daily average of spam e-mails sent during 2008...<br />
<br />
Other
experts who have made claims about the energy use of (Google) searches
state that CO2 emissions are between 1 and 10 grams (depending on
whether you have to turn on your computer first), or between 7 and 10
grams (if you use your computer for 15 minutes). The Times of London,
which published the original article (above), informed its readers a few
days later that the newspaper accepted Google's official claim that one
(simple) search (taking less than a second) produces only 0.2 grams of
CO2, and that the "search" refererred to in the article involved several
attempts over a teme period of several minutes. <a href="http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Harvard-Prof-Sets-Record-Straight-on-Internet-Carbon-Study-65794.html">In a clarification</a>
by the physicist Wissner- Gross, he states that he never mentioned
Google specifically, that the example with the kettle of water was not
of his origin, and, between the lines, that the newspaper made a hen out
of a feather based on the interview with him.<br />
<br />
Maybe the number 7 grams of CO2 emissions per search originally <a href="http://blogs.sun.com/rolfk/entry/your_co2_footprint_when_using">came from this blog</a>
(May 2007)? We should anyway probably take Google's numbers with a
pinch of salt since the company probably counts only the marginal cost
of performing one extra search, and not the nergy cost for temporarily
inactive servers, support and maintenance, and the distributet and thus
reduntand work being done in several data centers for each search. Also,
the idea that badly written <a href="http://earth2tech.com/2007/10/13/your-bad-code-is-killing-my-planet/">inefficient software code wastes electricity</a>
and thus has a bigger ecological footpring than neat code is
thought-provoking (although I do not mean to imply that this is a
problem for Google).<br />
<br />
The "news" about Google searches
and kettles of water quickly spread to several newspapers, but seem to
have been a storm in a teacup when viewed in the read mirror. So let us
step back and think about the larger issues that this text touches upon.
Using computers has an environmental impact. What we read and look at
when we use our computers is stored on many servers that are all
connected by computer networks. All of these parts require electricity (<a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article5488934.ece">personal computers the most, servers and data centers the least, and computer networks in-between</a>).<br />
<br />
The
electricity that we use for these purposes is generated mainly from
fossil fuels like coal and natural gas (85% of the energy consumed on
Earth is produced from fossil fuels). when Google states that each
search generates 0.2 gram of CO2 emissions, they surely count only the
energy costs for their enormous-but-highly-efficient data centers,
whereas the big energy thief is right in front of your nose - your own
computer at home or at work. The use of a personal computer may cause
CO2 emissions of somewhere between 40 and 80 grams of CO2 per hour, and
if you include this energy consumption it is easy to reach 7 gram of CO2
for an advanced search that constitutes of several steps.<br />
<br />
As
I wrote in the beginning of this text, "Google" could in this context
represent something much bigger than the company itself and it is
somehow difficult to understand why exactly Google was singled out for
its energy consumption. In general, Google should be acknowledged for
their energy policies and for their lobbying in Washington for cleaner
energy sources. A few searches on the Internet (there we go again :-)
reveal several examples of interesting and good inititatives from
Google, like their report "<a href="http://knol.google.com/k/jeffery-greenblatt/clean-energy-2030/15x31uzlqeo5n/1#">Clean energy 2030</a> and their work on <a href="http://www.google.org/rec.html">RE&lt;C</a> (<a href="http://news.cnet.com/Google-to-enter-clean-energy-business/2100-13844_3-6220341.html">renewable energy less than coal</a>),
where the goal is to produce renewable energy cheaper than electricity
generated by coal plants. According to Google, the company's data
centers use only <a href="http://www.google.com/corporate/green/datacenters/">half as much energy</a> as the average data centers.<br />
<br />
The
global IT sector is responsible for 2% of the global CO2 emissions
(according to the firm Gartner Inc.). It may not sound much, but it is
as much as the global airline industry emits, and in contrast to an
airline industry in crisis, the IT sector is growing rapidly on a global
basis. Many actors consider numbers about energy use business secrets,
and for exampe Google does not want to tell how many or how big their
data centers are, or how many servers they own.<br />
<br />
Google
clims that using their search engine on the larger whole saves money and
natural resources, since a Google search replaces more energy demanding
activities - we no longer have to use as many car trips, time, paper or
ink to have our questions answered. This is a valid argument, but it
assumes that we are doing more or less the same things (the same number
of searches) as before, but now in a more resource-efficient way. But we
obviously did not perform a hundred million searches per day before
Google and other search engines existed. Furthermore, we burn energy by <a href="http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2009/01/the_dead_coal_n.php">doing a lot of new things with our computers</a> which could not be done easily - or at all - before:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">We
may be obsessive about turning off the lights when we leave a room, but
at the same time we may happily spend hours clicking around online,
oblivious of the electricity lighting up our screen, heating our chip,
and powering ad cooling the data centers we're connected to. (It's true
that in some cases Internet use may substitute for other activities,
such as travel, that would consume more energy, but let's not kid
ourselves: the vast majority of computer and Internet use represents
additional energy consumption.) How many Twitterheads think about their
electricity use before they tweet? Not many. How many blogger think
about it before they blog? Not this one.</span><br />
<br />
More
interesting than to examine Google in particular is to think about the
energy cost of computer use in general. Alex Wissner-Gross (again) has
calculated that each second of watching a web page generates 0.02 grams
of CO2 emissions. This applies to "static" website content - if you
watch animations or video, that number quickly becomes ten times higher.
The rule of thumb is of course that the more you use a computer, the
more energy you consume, and some activities (playing computer games,
watching movies) are more energy intensive than others (reading a
document, working with a word processor). Regarding the energy
consumption of avatars, I wrote the following almost one year ago:<br />
<br />
It
is difficult to determine the benefit (or damage) of using virtual
worlds. On the one hand you use considerably less energy (and generate a
lot less in terms of CO2 emissions) if you cancel a trip and set up a
meeting in a virtual world. A computer on the other hand uses a lot of
electricity compared to non-electricity-consuming activites (go for a
walk, talk with a friend, help your children with their homework).<br />
<br />
To
play World of Warcraft several hours a day can hardly be described as
an activity which "replaces traveling". It is more probable that playing
such a game for a long time increases the chance that you will make new
(faraway) friends whom you would later like to visit (sometimes by
hopping on an intercontinental flight). I am here walking on a minefield
of trying to differentiate between "good" and "bad" uses of computers
and the Internet. I prefer to avoid this particular discussion at this
particular point in time, but might return to the issue later. We can at
least for sure state that computers and galloping use of electricity
may be problematic in the long run - a characteristic shared by all
types of <a href="http://www.forbes.com/2008/10/20/energy-efficiency-cio-tech-cx_kgb_1022brill.html">exponential development</a>: "<span style="font-style: italic;">If not addressed, unlimited, ever-increasing compute performance will ultimately consume all the energy on the planet</span>".<br />
<br />
I
think it is definitely legitimate to critically investigate the energy
consumption and CO2 footprint of using for example YouTube, Twitter and
virtual worlds. Even without approaching the issue in a normative manner
(making claims about "good" or "bad" use), one may thus find clues as
to which activities could become painfully expensive if the electricity
and energy prices will rise and keep on rising in the future. According
to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/may/03/internet-carbon-footprint">a vice president at Sun Microsystems</a>, it is totally clear that "<span style="font-style: italic;">We
need more data centes, we need more servers. Each server burns more
watts than the previous generation and each watt costs more</span>".<br />
<br />
Something
to further take into account are proportions. A person who uses a
computer one hour per day (40 to 80 grams of CO2 emissions per day)
generates emissions somewhere in the range of 15 to 30 kilos per year. A
hardcore computer user who uses his/her computer 10 hours per day thus
generates something between 150 to 300 kilos of CO2 per year. Is this a
lot? Driving an average car 1000 km/620 miles (a single round trip
between Stockholm and Gothenburg) generates approximately 200 kilos of
CO2. This by no means absolves us from caring about the energy use of
computers, but it hints at the fact that the potential of reducing CO2
emissions in the computer/IT sector is - for now - limited compared to
the potential of reducing our energy use by changing our habits of
travelling.</div>
pargmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208443783482286491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-38361193011596717492013-09-27T18:27:00.002+02:002013-10-04T00:30:59.304+02:00CO2 emissions per country and per capita<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I would like to share an image I came across while trying to research for my "great idea"-project.<br />
This image shows the difference of carbon emissions calculated by country (on the left), and carbon emission per capita per nation (on the right) . If you would like to study this in more details, you can find the original image here: <a href="http://d1435t697bgi2o.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/mmw_CO2footprint_111510.pdf">http://d1435t697bgi2o.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/mmw_CO2footprint_111510.pdf</a><br />
<br />
I think this really illustrates that we in Sweden (for instance) can think of ourselves as very small emitters compared to the giants of the world, but if we compare to what we use per person we are still not the worst, but there is room for lots of improvement (compare with China).<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQbN3aaVTKQrIzWKtxp7-bPNT4jC9znGSTH3Kl3D-BGXCCxbKsxUrrd7V-1OPG91E4hnyKQ2iduf4OxdQ0yF8lVX9YT4zPoz1yE7Q8a1ONXblFmCcvmw_yPBBtEeXp_r8pEeZVSfMmx96z/s1600/mmw_CO2footprint_111510.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQbN3aaVTKQrIzWKtxp7-bPNT4jC9znGSTH3Kl3D-BGXCCxbKsxUrrd7V-1OPG91E4hnyKQ2iduf4OxdQ0yF8lVX9YT4zPoz1yE7Q8a1ONXblFmCcvmw_yPBBtEeXp_r8pEeZVSfMmx96z/s1600/mmw_CO2footprint_111510.jpg" width="428" /></a></div>
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I also came across this youtube clip that does a great job visualizing how much carbon dioxide is emitted from a city (in this case New York). It is quite a lot, and this goes on all the time....</div>
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtqSIplGXOA">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtqSIplGXOA</a></div>
<span id="goog_682903163"></span><span id="goog_682903164"></span><br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15437675860240983228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-28363785802611610602013-09-27T10:30:00.000+02:002013-09-27T10:30:12.019+02:00Feedback on the use of this blog.<br />
Hello.<br />
<br />
I'd just like to say that the quality of the blog posts this far has been high, but the only problem is that there are too few of them!<br />
<br />
May I suggest that some of you might want to reuse the texts you handed in for this week's seminar and reformulate them into blog posts. If you discussed your idea at the seminar yesterday, you might then also want to update your contributions taking yesterday's discussion into account.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://sustainabilitymediatechnology.blogspot.se/2013/09/a-software-energy-footprint-sef_26.html">Johan B just did that</a> and he set the bar very high - you don't have to be quite as ambitious as he was to gain mine and Elina's approval!<br />
<br />
/Daniel<br />
.pargmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208443783482286491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-41621207872932302562013-09-26T15:23:00.000+02:002013-09-26T15:40:59.618+02:00A “Software Energy Footprint” (SEF) standard for measuring and comparing software energy effectivenessHi there!<br />
Here I will present and further elaborate on my idea for the second seminar, explaining the background and argue the feasibility of implementing a standard for measuring energy effectiveness of software. The text is made up of my initial thoughts, extended with what was discussed on the seminar and also combined with a few elaborations.<br />
<br />
<h4>
A “Software Energy Footprint” (SEF) standard for measuring and comparing software energy effectiveness</h4>
<div>
<br /></div>
The worldwide energy consumption of networks, personal computers and data centers has grown from 4% in 2007 to 4,7% in 2012, not taking into account the use and recharging of mobile phones and tablets (<i>Overview of ICT energy consumption</i>, 2013). This increased amount of energy demand as a result of ICT usage will become a challenge in a future with less abundant energy resources.<br />
<br />
As we are still highly dependent on the use of non-renewable fossil fuel for extracting energy, there is a strong relation between carbon emission and energy consumption. Attempts to place focus on carbon emission has for example been made in the food industry, by introducing certain certifications such as “Svenskt Sigill” and “KRAV”. For a food product to be eligible for such a certificate, the producer has to reach certain criteria regarding how the food is produced. A more general form of these certifications is the so-called “Product Carbon Footprint” or “PCF” for short. The overall purpose of these different ways of labeling products as more or less “eco-friendly” is to enforce the consumer into making better (or “greener”) decisions and thus pushing the producers into improving their production methods etc. A known difficulty in measuring such a PCF is that it is hard to accurately analyze every step of the product lifetime and production.<br />
<br />
In the context of ICT hardware there exists similar certifications such as “<a href="http://www.energystar.gov/" target="_blank">Energy Star</a>” that promote energy efficient ICT products and the likes. A Swedish example is "<a href="http://www.tco.se/vara-fragor/TCO-markningen--TCO-Certified/" target="_blank">TCO</a>" which prompts hardware producers to take both a social and environmental responsibility. Although this is all well, the promoting energy effectiveness of ICT <b>software</b> is not as prevalent.<br />
<br />
My proposal/idea is to try implementing an energy efficiency standard for ICT software, to further improve software energy effectiveness in the future. While some areas within software development do take energy effectiveness into account, the reasons are often not based on making a smaller PCF or being more sustainable. Take mobile and web development as examples. Making energy efficient and optimized software for mobile platforms (smartphones and tablets) is a critical factor in achieving user satisfaction. If the application drains the battery life of your phone in a few minutes, no one will use the application. Similarly, if a web page is way to large (in terms of downloaded source code) resulting in slow loading times, then users will not want to visit the page.<br />
<br />
The case is different if we take a look at stationary computers, such as PCs and servers. Plugged into the wall-socket, we do not have the same energy-use constraints as for mobile devices. Thus energy efficient software will not emerge as a “natural” requirement in such a context and energy efficiency may instead be traded for even greater processing power/computations. As we are currently moving closer and closer towards a “future in the cloud”, where most of the heavy lifting (computations requiring much processing power) is done remotely on a plugged-in server, the need and incentive for developing energy efficiency software might even be decreasing.<br />
<br />
There has been, and currently are, a few projects looking at the possibilities to accurately measure energy consumption in relation to software. One research project measured and compared the energy use of loading different web sites using different web browsers by connecting sensors to various hardware components (<i>SEFLab: A Lab for Measuring Software Energy Footprints</i>, 2013). They were able to detect significant variations in energy usage, indicating the importance of software design. One of the greatest challenges in measuring the energy use is that different hardware components act in different ways and that the distribution of computations may vary.<br />
<br />
Two other projects attempt to bypass this issue using software-based measurements and by modeling the hardware in a virtual machine. This way, the energy use of software can be monitored on a process-level. The Microsoft “<a href="http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/joulemeter/" target="_blank">Joulemeter</a>” and “<a href="http://abourdon.github.io/powerapi-akka/" target="_blank">PowerAPI</a>” would enable custom software energy benchmarking in order to place a certain software on a standardized “Software Energy Footprint” (SEF) scale. Software developers would then be able to certify their software and/or get a SEF rating from a trusted source performing such benchmarking, indicating that the software is written in a sustainable manner. A high SEF-rating and a certificate would hopefully encourage consumers to prefer these products, both in terms of making a responsible choice and getting software that (at least for mobile computers and devices) will increase the battery lifetime. Such a certificate/rating could easily be added to appstores, both for the mobile and the PC market. An increased focus on developing and using energy efficient software might be able to somewhat reduce both out ICT energy needs and ICT energy consumption in the future.<br />
<br />
There is of course a variance in average energy consumption between different categories of software. It would for example be quite meaningless to compare the energy effectiveness of say the game "<a href="http://minesweeperonline.com/" target="_blank">Minesweeper</a>" and the game "<a href="http://www.battlefield.com/battlefield-4/videos/this-is-battlefield-4-multiplayer" target="_blank">Battlefied 4</a>", or comparing "Microsoft Word" and the clustered processes behind "<a href="http://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi" target="_blank">NCBI Blast</a>". Thus one would need to define various categories that then could be more realistically benchmarked against (for example comparing different browsers against one another, Microsoft Word vs. Open Office etc.).<br />
<br />
As I see it, there are a few positive drivers that could enforce an increased focus on software energy efficiency. For example, utilizing the open source community would be a great way of circulating energy efficient code. Energy efficient code snippets and solutions could easily be shared (and iteratively improved) across the Internet. Calling upon the "hacker spirit" (mentioned in Zapico, J. (2013). <i>The hacker ethic, openness and sustainability</i>), an internal driving force for developing good software already exists.<br />
<br />
Speaking of "hackers", Green Hackathons could be arranged with energy efficient software development in focus. A goal could be to solve a specific task in the most energy efficient way possible.<br />
<br />
Another good (and very much practical) idea would be to integrate energy efficiency benchmarking in the compiler (I believe it was Mårten Cederman who pointed this out). Similar functionality exist already in IDE's such as Apple's Xcode, which has the <a href="https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/developertools/conceptual/InstrumentsUserGuide/AnalysingCPUUsageinYourOSXApp/AnalysingCPUUsageinYourOSXApp.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40004652-CH16-SW1" target="_blank">ability to monitor resources</a> such as CPU and present this graphically to the developer in real-time. Still, there is no way of knowing how much energy that is used. A energy-usage monitor integrated in the compiler would serve as a must-have tool for developers trying to optimize the energy effectiveness of their algorithms and solutions.<br />
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Taking on the economical perspective (or "lens"), a more thought-through development process will likely take more time, increasing the cost for such "green" software in terms of time and money. Nevertheless, considering enterprise applications that might be deployed for one or several years, the reduced cost in energy as a result of more energy efficient software would probably dwarf the initial increase in cost for the software. Thus there could be economical benefits for both developers and consumers.<br />
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Now, this became quite like what is usually described as "<a href="http://garygoh.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/unable-to-process-wall-of-text.jpg" target="_blank">big wall of text</a>" but I hope someone found it interesting. It would be fun to hear if anyone has got any ideas for further elaborating the proposal or perhaps find more challenges in making this real! =)<br />
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<h4>
References</h4>
Lannoo, Bart, Lambert, Sofie et. al. 2013. <a href="https://www.google.se/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDQQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.internet-science.eu%2Fsites%2Finternet-science.eu%2Ffiles%2Fbiblio%2FEINS_D8%25201_final.pdf&ei=aDhEUo7fNJT74QSxo4DICw&usg=AFQjCNFg-u6lRcHJOdBaoVJ_OsfDDoGiHw&sig2=U0LIYhVzZ0ptEpedxjbfOA&bvm=bv.53217764,d.bGE" target="_blank"><i>Overview of ICT energy consumption</i></a>, FP7-288021, The EINS Consortium, Network of Excellence in Internet Science<br />
<br />
<i>Klimatmärkning av livsmedel</i> <a href="http://www.naturvardsverket.se/Documents/publikationer/978-91-620-6355-9.pdf">http://www.naturvardsverket.se/Documents/publikationer/978-91-620-6355-9.pdf</a>, presented in januari 2010.<br />
<br />
Ferreira, Miguel A. et. al., <i>SEFLab: A Lab for Measuring Software Energy Footprints</i><br />
<a href="http://www.sig.eu/en/Research/Key%20publications/Archive/1285/__SEFLab--A-Lab-for-Measuring-Software-Energy-Footprints__.html">http://www.sig.eu/en/Research/Key%20publications/Archive/1285/SEFLab--A-Lab-for-Measuring-Software-Energy-Footprints.html</a><br />
<br />
SEFLab, website: <a href="http://www.seflab.com/">http://www.seflab.com</a><br />
<br />Johanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04661580337237125995noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-32528200797693436172013-09-23T11:18:00.000+02:002013-09-23T11:25:03.229+02:00Can musicians spread knowledge and interest regarding the climate issue?Hello!<br />
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Yesterday's Agenda (22/9) on svt2 showed a final piece abut the climate issue and that the global interest regarding climate issues unfortunately has cooled.<br />
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Some people are in the belief that new measures need to be taken in order to make the climate issue a hot topic again and that this could be done through musicians and bands spreading the message through their music.<br />
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I thought this was a very interesting perspective as music is a good way to reach a large part of the world as music is considered a globally understood communication method. It is also a good tool when reaching the younger generation, who really should be aware/caring about the future of our earth, the most.<br />
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Just like Bono in U2 is well known for his music, he is equally well known for his activeness in philanthropic work. I definitely think that using musicians and other prominent figures, which can influence a large number of the population, is a good marketing strategy for getting the topic of climate issues spinning again. Some may even discuss if it’s in the duty of public figures to set an example when it comes to environmental issues in the same way as they are expected to act as role models in other areas of behavior.<br />
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If you’re interested, the report regarding the climate begins at 33.55 in the following <a href="http://www.svtplay.se/video/1441764/22-9-21-15" target="_blank">clip!</a>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16433203807236777371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-16086842914188517792013-09-18T14:02:00.001+02:002013-09-18T18:43:54.367+02:00Soot - The warm blanket that makes the mountains sweat<div class="p1">
Oh… so I got your attention? Great! Well I recently read an article published by NASA in which they summarized a conclusion they've come to draw when it comes to glacier retreat. By studying old and really old (ancient) cores of ice throughout history, before the industrial revolution and beyond, they actually found some interesting trends:</div>
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1) The coal emitted from big industrial factories all over the world of course polluted the air with coal particles - aka soot. These particles then spread with the winds and some of it landed in the cold, snowy parts of the world: the alps.<br />
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Since black carbon is very sunlight-absorbing it can actually absorb quite a lot of heat in contrast to snow who deflects sunlight pretty good. The findings of black carbon was confirmed in the extracted ice cores and NASA scientist then actually concluded that the glaciers in the European alps had begun to melt more rapidly just because of it being covered with a black carbon blanket (so to speak). Maybe not that visible to the naked eye, but highly effective to the mean temperature on the snowy surface, thus effectively melting the ice away. Oops.</div>
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2) The main point here is that the industrial revolution is an anthropogenic factor to the risen mean temperature of the earth but it doesn't mainly come from the actual increase in mean temperature but rather from the carbon particles lying in the snow absorbing sunlight heating it up to melting degrees.</div>
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I'm posting this article since all this leads me to believe that we are one step closer to realizing our available options to actually make this climate issue a bit more bearable. By knowing what is causing our glaciers to melt (which is a serious issue) we can take stronger and more concrete measures to actually make a real difference. Since I find it highly unlikely that the mean temperature will drop in the nearest future, it feels good to know that the "end of glaciers" as we know it doesn't Only depend on that fact.</div>
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Additionally I think this article is highly relevant to this course since it shines new light upon the issue with the climate and what drivers are contributing to the glaciers melting. We all have talked about the carbon dioxide and its effect on the ozone. But in contrast to that discussion, this article actually redirect some of the "blame" to other factors than just an increase in global mean temperature.</div>
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What can we do to investigate this issue further? What is the next step? Is it possible to filter out the carbon emissions more effectively to halt this "carbon blanket"?</div>
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What are your hopes/reflections on this discovery?</div>
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Original article: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/jpl/news/earth20130903.html#.UjmPqWR5zqW" target="_blank">HERE</a></div>
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<div class="p1">
- Image is borrowed from the original article</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-12561396472665281942013-09-17T15:01:00.001+02:002013-09-17T15:01:58.789+02:00Mon 23 webinar "How ICT is driving a sustainable future".<br />
This is probably not supposed to be for students, but since it's on Monday and they sent a reminder to me... Last day to register is on Friday and <a href="https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/767289871">you register here</a>.<br />
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If you attend, please report back - preferably through a blog post here!<br />
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/Daniel<br />
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Join us for the webinar 'Towards a SMARTer 2020 - How ICT is driving a sustainable future' on Monday 23rd September 2013 at 17:00-18:00 CET. </div>
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Launched in 2012, the Smarter 2020 report highlighted that the use of ICT could save 9.1GtCO2e of harmful greenhouse gases from being emitted worldwide. The study identified GHG abatement potential from ICT-enabled solutions across six sectors of the economy including power, transportation, manufacturing, consumer and service, agriculture, and buildings. </div>
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Since the launch of the Smarter 2020 report, GeSI members have been developing these enablement solutions and working to reduce emissions in their operations and those of their partners and customers. </div>
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<span style="color: black;">This webinar will showcase a number of GeSI members' carbon emission reduction initiatives to date, including the use of ICT technology to enable customers to measure and reduce their emissions, fleet fuel efficiency improvements, energy management systems and smart metering.</span></div>
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Introduction - Alice Prudhoe, GeSI </div>
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<li align="justify" style="text-align: justify;">Case Study 1: Building on SMARTer2020 - BT's Net Good 3:1 vision and goal - Gabrielle Giner, BT </li>
<li align="justify" style="color: black; text-align: justify;">Case Study 2: KPN 1-2-1 program & energy savings calculator - Marga Blom, KPN </li>
<li align="justify" style="color: black; text-align: justify;">Case Study 3: How machine-to-machine technology delivers fleet fuel efficiency - Chris Lloyd, Verizon </li>
<li align="justify" style="color: black; text-align: justify;">Case Study 4: How ALU machine-to-machine technology supports smart grids and enables new energy efficiency services - Katrina Destree-Cochran, Alcatel-Lucent</li>
<li align="justify" style="color: black; text-align: justify;">Case Study 5: Smart metering in Australia - Matilda Gennvi Gustafsson, Ericsson </li>
<li align="justify" style="color: black; text-align: justify;">Questions </li>
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<span style="color: #0000a5;"><strong>Registration</strong></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Space is limited. Please <a href="https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/767289871">register here</a> until 20th September 2013.</span></div>
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<strong>Contact</strong></div>
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Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI)</div>
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e: <a href="mailto:info@gesi.org" linktype="2" shape="rect" style="color: #0000a5; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">info@gesi.org</a></div>
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p: +32 2 282 8442</div>
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<span style="color: #0000a5;"><strong>About GeSI</strong></span></div>
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The Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) is a strategic partnership of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector and organisations committed to creating and promoting technologies and practices that foster economic, environmental and social sustainability. For more information, see <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001bO7KlaNkCas3eMiVa9X-VM8pF0vgnh1Vu4eTAe596qeDnUiL04H4PeG8XCT80sltiiVx8La7_iW6M0K45sJCXMOolkIuCl6QLT25iETH2ns=" linktype="1" shape="rect" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" track="on">www.gesi.org</a>.</div>
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</span>pargmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208443783482286491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-5003129967618969872013-09-12T19:57:00.001+02:002013-09-12T19:57:20.337+02:00The story of stuffI guess I will be making the <strong>first contribution</strong> (or not) to this blog. Took me some time to find how to post but now finally I located where to do it!<br />
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<strong>However</strong>. I've been interested in garbage for some time after doing a project together with some friend here at KTH in another course: Prescense architecture. During that project I encountered a video on youtube which spured an insterest in why we produce so much garbage in western society. This video explains in a really simple way where products come from and touches on the subject on why it is not sustainable to continue living as consumerists in such a way as we have become accustomed to. As I said, this video spured an interest, and I hope that you will also find it interesting too.<br />
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The video can be found <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM" target="_blank">HERE</a><br />
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By the way, this is the second time writing this post. My neighborhood suffered a power out where even the water pressure dropped considerably. This happened just after watching the video that Pargman linked on his <a href="http://dm2573-2013.blogspot.se/2013/09/lecture-2-sept-17-8-10-daniel-pargman.html" target="_blank">post</a> on the course blog. It really freaked me out, felt like the future had already come, ha ha! I can really recommend it for those of you who haven't yet seen it.kristian orellanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14577905352000544443noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-69356013221105078842013-09-11T16:35:00.002+02:002013-09-11T16:35:33.425+02:00Regarding this blog and bonuspoints for the year 2013.<br />
This is the very short blog post that specifies what you can get bonus points for. There is a <a href="http://sustainabilitymediatechnology.blogspot.se/2012/08/regarding-this-blogbonus-points.html">longer blogpost</a> from last year if you want to get more ideas and instructions.<br />
<br />
You can get two bonus points in the course for blog posts or comments that <b><i>add value</i></b> and <b><i>quality</i></b>. This means that you should <b><i>explain why</i></b> we should read your text and the text/link/blog/video/whatever you link or refer to. You should thus <b><i>connect it</i></b> to the course, and you should <b><i>elaborate</i></b> on the topic. It's not really good enough to write a short text, basically saying "look what I found on the Internet". We know you can do better!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://sustainabilitymediatechnology.blogspot.se/2012/08/what-isnt-for-sale.html">Here</a> is an example of a bonus point-worthy blog post from last year.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://sustainabilitymediatechnology.blogspot.se/2012/10/interesting-open-source-project.html">Here</a> is an example of a less bonus point-worthy blog post from last year, a post like this will not get bonus points this year. Here is another example - <a href="http://socialmediatechnologies.blogspot.se/2011/11/so-true.html">a really funny comic strip</a>. It would definitely have gotten a bonus point with some nifty elaboration rather than just posting the uncommented picture.<br />
<br />
Do comment on <i>this</i> blog post if you have any questions. We will
comment on some of your early blog posts here in order to provide you
with feedback and direction as to what "adds value" and what constitutes
"quality".<br />
<br />
/Daniel & Elina<br />
.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00187302285970456798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-51987366736848479172013-09-11T16:32:00.002+02:002013-09-11T16:33:20.700+02:00Welcome students of 2013!<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
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Throughout the course Sustainability and Media Technology, all of us will <i>together</i> come
across many different and interesting examples of issues that can be
related to topics that the course covers. This blog is where <i>you</i> post information about what you come across so that <i>we all</i> can learn about and benefit from the information that we all together come across. 60+ pair of eyes are better than 2!<br />
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All students who take the course will have received an invitation to their KTH mail address to become contributors to this blog. You now all have the authority to post texts here.<br />
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Feel free to post whatever you come across that you think is interesting
and that has a relationship to things we have read, or seen, or heard
in the course, or that in general is related to issues of sustainability
and media technology (and ICT)!</div>
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Also feel free to check out others' posts and please also <i>comment</i> on them. Hopefully some blog entries will generate lively discussions!<br />
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This blog was used for the same purpose last year as well and we thus build upon their work. If you want to, you can check out earlier blog posts - posted by last year's students - to get inspiration.</div>
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Daniel Pargman & Elina Eriksson</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00187302285970456798noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-29221319016899159292012-10-21T18:00:00.000+02:002012-10-21T18:00:05.849+02:00How can we make society better? New course!.<br />
This is info about a new course that might be of interest to you. The information is in Swedish and I the course seems to be in Swedish too so I won't bother to translate the text.<br />
<br />
Nov 15 is the deadline for applications - only 24 students can take the course and KTH students are limited to only 8!<br />
<br />
/Daniel<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Hej lärare på CSC</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Vi vill ha er hjälp att välkomna studenter till den första OpenLab kursen (pilotversion). OpenLab är den stora projektkurs, 15 hp som ges under VT 2013 och som bygger på behovsdrivna utmaningar. Kursen ska skall kunna väljas av studenter från KTH, SU och KI. Det som nu behövs är ett antal studenter från utvalda skolor som skulle vilja delta i kursen och det behövs en aktiv rekryteringsinsats. Det rör sig bara om 8 KTH-studenter i denna version och det finns intressanta projekt från Stockholms stad resp Stockholms Läns Landsting som skall genomföras av tvärdisciplinära studentgrupper. Vi tror det är bra att kunna välja studenter som särskilt gärna vill vara med!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Det behövs en mer aktiv insats från er studierektorer eller lärare i lämpliga ämnen.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Kort introduktion till kursen nedan, för mer information ligger det också en länk på</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="http://www.openlab.se/">www.openlab.se</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">----------------------------</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Hur kan samhället bli bättre?</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Svåra problem kräver ofta nytt tänkande. Och nytänkande är svårt inom gamla ramar med etablerade tankemönster.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Därför startas kursen ”Innovationer för den växande staden” – en ny multidisciplinär projektkurs inom OpenLab på Valhallavägen 79 i Stockholm. OpenLab är en plats för kurser i innovation och nytänkande, där studenter och lärare från KI, SU och KTH möter uppdragsgivare från Stockholms stad, Stockholms läns landsting och Länsstyrelsen i Stockholms län, för att tillsammans skapa innovativa lösningar på stora samhällsfrågor. I projektkursens terminsuppdrag lär sig studenterna hur man arbetar i innovativa processer över olika vetenskapsfält. Och uppdragsgivaren får nya idéer på hur man kan lösa viktiga samhällsfrågor som kommer att betyda mycket för alla människor i samhället.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Kurserna vänder sig till dig som redan har en kandidatexamen. Du kan ha läst ekonomi, humaniora, juridik, medicin, samhällsvetenskap eller till ingenjör. Du kommer att studera tillsammans med människor du kanske aldrig skulle ha träffat annars. Du vill lära dig att hantera samhällets utmaningar och prova nya arbetssätt. Kursen kommer att vara krävande och stimulerande.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Du kommer att arbeta med riktiga uppdrag som kan påverka andras liv i en nära framtid. Regionens politiker och beslutsfattare väntar på dina förslag till lösningar.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">.</span>pargmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208443783482286491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-52231107828452256152012-10-17T10:30:00.000+02:002012-10-17T10:36:38.482+02:00Meta: Daniel's reflections on the course.<br />
I happen to know a few people in the "Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas" (<a href="http://www.asposverige.se/">ASPO Sverige</a>). They asked me to come and talk about the DM2573 course and my thoughts about it. If you want to, you are welcome to join this <b>Swedish-language</b> meeting on Sunday (Oct 21).<br />
<br />
<b>Time</b>: Sun Oct 21 between 16-19.<br />
<b>Place</b>: The restaurant/pub Pelikanen (Södermalm), Blekingegatan 40<br />
<br />
Since ASPO would like to have an idea about how many people will come to the meeting, <a href="http://www.doodle.com/uurimzcx6zhtvvsx#table">please fill in this Doodle</a> if you would like to come!<br />
<br />
/Daniel<br />
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Daniel Pargman, lektor i medieteknik, KTH</div>
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Titel: Peak oil på högskolan?</div>
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Daniel berättar om sina tankar kring att utforma delar av en ny kurs om "hållbarhet och medieteknik" kring teman som "begränsningar" och resursutmaningar. Vilket var utfallet när civilingenjörsstudenter på KTH fick höra att hållbarhetsproblematiken och resursutmaningar inte representarer abstrakta frågor som "någon annan" får lösa, utan potentiella ödesfrågor som kommer att komma att få en konkret inverkan på deras egna liv? Vad händer när unga människor ("future captains of the industry") börjar väga möjligheten att pågående problem (EU, USA) kan vara tecken inte på en tillfällig svacka utan på en oundviklig kollaps?</div>
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pargmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208443783482286491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-22904955291161524502012-10-17T07:30:00.000+02:002012-10-17T07:30:02.473+02:00David Webb talk at KTH Oct 25.<br />
During the course wrap-up (Oct 10) several students said they would have wanted David Webb to give a lecture in the course. While the course has now ended, you actually <i>do</i> have the chance to listen to David talk at a seminar at KTH next week.<br />
<br />
Due to the fact that David is invited to a seminar (not a lecture), space is limited and we unfortunately thus have to limit the number of students to maximum a dozen (12). So <a href="http://www.doodle.com/si9cqqmppu34d943#table">I have created a Doodle</a> where you can indicate if you want to come (or if you don't want to come).<br />
<br />
Please only state that you will come to the seminar if you really <i>will</i> come to the seminar!<br />
<br />
/Daniel<br />
<br />
<br />
-----------------------<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b>Date: </b>To 25 oktober kl 15-17</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b>Place</b>: Seminar room 1537 (house E, floor 5)</span><br />
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<br /><b>Guest</b>: David Webb, Retired financial analyst, investment banker and hedge fund manager.<br /><div>
<b>Title</b>: Paradigm Collapse<br /><div>
<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Talk</b>: Beginning with a chronicle of the unprecedented increase and scale of financial exposures in the United States, we will discuss evidence that the banking power of the United States is indeed collapsing.<span> </span>We will discuss available historical precedent, and some unexpected implications including the prospects for interest rates, commodities, deflation vs. hyperinflation, the devaluation of the dollar, and the involvement of China. <span> </span>The relative merits of Sweden and the Scandinavian region will also be discussed.</div>
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<b>About</b>: David Webb is the founder of Origin Investments AB, which has applied to the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen) for permission to manage a market neutral long/short equity strategy designed to serve as a core holding for institutional investors. Mr. Webb was the founder of Verus Investments, where he managed long/short equity hedge funds with AUM in excess of $600 million. Previously, Mr. Webb was a Senior Managing Member of Shaker Investments where he was the sole manager of long/short equity hedge funds with AUM in excess of $1.3 billion. Mr. Webb has served as an Associate with the venture investment arm of E.M. Warburg, Pincus &amp; Co., Inc., and as an Associate with the Mergers and Acquisitions Department of Oppenheimer &amp; Co., Inc. Mr. Webb moved with his family to Sweden a few years ago to escape the impeding collapse of the US banking sector.</div>
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pargmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208443783482286491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-13829643656679611152012-10-17T00:12:00.000+02:002012-10-17T00:12:00.793+02:00On the future of this blog.<br />
The deadline for the home exam has passed. I think it is pretty logical that the time to write blog posts here and get bonus points for them in the course has passed too.<br />
<br />
However, you are welcome to continue to post stuff here - I will continue to subscribe to the blog and I hope some other people will do that too. I might post some stuff myself here now and then.<br />
<br />
More specifically, this is what will happen to the blog:<br />
- You will still be able to post stuff.<br />
- A year from now when the course starts again, we might continue to use this blog and thus build upon your blog posts. At that time, I will kick you out and a new crop of students will get invitations to contribute to the blog.<br />
<br />
Do note that this blog post is followed by two blog posts about events during this coming week that might be of interest to you - even though the course has ended.<br />
<br />
/Daniel<br />
.<br />
pargmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208443783482286491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907169632847851452.post-45002532895132167642012-10-16T00:14:00.004+02:002012-10-16T00:14:58.452+02:00Sustainability indicators
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<span lang="EN-GB">As this wasn’t part of the lesson, I
thought it might be interesting for others as well. I wondered how the progress
of sustainable development is measured and visualized. Because of this I
searched for some actual systems. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">The “Committee of Sustainable Development“
(CSD) introduced a set of basic indicators in 1997. Since then, 22 countries
(e.g. Germany) are testing these indicators. As the basic indicator set doesn’t
fit the need of all participating countries, each participant defined their own
set of indicators. Because of that, a comparison of the different countries is
extremely difficult. I will use the report of the Federal Statistical Office of
Germany as a base for this blog entry. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">The report is divided into four parts. As
there are more than 30 indicators, I will mention only the most interesting The
first part handles the Intergenerational equity, which includes resource
conservation, climate protection, the usage of renewable energy sources and
other environmental issues. The quality of life is part of the second part,
this includes mobility, air quality, crime rate and healthcare. The third part
is about Social cohesion, examples for that are the employment rate,
integration and equal opportunities. The last part deals with the international
responsibility and includes only two indicators: Development cooperation and Opening
markets.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">The report is published every two years. In
every report, the collected data is compared to the previous reports. These
trends are compared to the climate & sustainability goals of the
government. In the report of 2012, which is available online (see link), more
than the half of the indicator developed in a positive way. 20 indicators are
developing weaker than expected, the defined goals might not be achieved. The
remaining 8 indicators had a very high deviation of the target value.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">This example shows the effort of some
countries in setting transparent goals for sustainability. On the other hand
these goals are relatively weak, as the government tries to set achievable
goals. There are several other criticisms as well, but as these indicator
systems are “new”, they might need some time to develop.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Source: </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="https://www.destatis.de/EN/Publications/Specialized/EnvironmentalEconomicAccounting/EnvironmentalEconomicAccounting.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Federal Statistical Office ofGermany, Indicator Report 2012</a></span></div>
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