Keeling Curve

Project Summary / Description:

Proposed study and briefing paper:
Energy Efficiency and climate change impacts of telecommunications infrastructure on environment 
This study is to focus on and extend a topic addressed (Ch. 6: Energy Use and Efficiency of communication) in my recently published 143-page report, Reinventing Wires: The Future of Landlines and Networks. The proposed scope and organization of the study is as follows:

1. Overview of the relationship between telecom infrastructure and environment
2. The present push for 5G wireless and its relationship to optical fiber networks
3. The importance of wired infrastructure, both old and new
a. Sustainability
b. Energy efficiency
c. Resilience of cities and communities
d. Future proofing communication
e. Non-proprietary utility infrastructures and 
f. Security, privacy, and safety
g. Consumer/citizen empowerment
4. The smart city concept and policy framework
a. Platform for new energy/electricity economy
b. Platform for city services
c. Platform for economic growth and business development
d. Platform for governance and citizen engagement/participation
e. Platform for wireless products and services
5. Survey of Smart City standards activity
6. Conclusions and recommendations

A major part of the study will be to access the competing half-dozen major international Smart City standardization initiatives (i.e., ISO, IEC, ISO/IEC, ITU, IEEE, NIST, etc.). The topic is a major turf-battle and closely related to the Internet-of-Things (IoT) topic which is being hyped by the IT industry. I hope to be able to clarify and sort the hype from the reality to aid in decisions of cities and communities as to where best to put their resources.

Best Estimate of GHG Avoidance/Reduction of This Project (Tonnes CO2 Equivalent/Year):

Mission Statement:

My broader mission is to align computing, communication, and information technology more closely with the needs of society. More specifically, as applied to telecommunications and energy technologies, my mission is to enable the de-carbonization, decentralization, and democratization of solar energy and of Internet access networks, including municipal fiber.

Technologists and investors are often focused on specific areas of expertise and business opportunities. Inventors seldom, if ever, understand the consequences of their inventions and how they will socially constructed by those that use them. My mission is to identify certain key technologies (i.e., solar PV, batteries, inverters, fiber and advanced wired networks) and fit them together in a technical and policy framework that can effectively address our societies greatest problems (i.e., climate change, environmental quality, sustainability, community resilience, and democratic governance).

My logic in applying the above principles to the problem of climate change is as follows:

1. In order to address climate change it is necessary to move off of carbon to renewable energy. 
2. Distributed localized solar PV is the best renewable resource, when combined with storage.
3. The above resource depends on premises integration and balancing of generation, use, and storage, and then on local sharing of electricity within the distribution grid.
4. The above local sharing and balancing requires a high speed reliable communication network (e.g., optical fiber) to every premises.
5. The above communication network becomes a basic public utility and brings many other benefits.

The proposed study addresses the last point concluded above.

Link: Facebook: