Michael Oghia

“On AMS-IX's power consumption - Netherlands energy prices have fallen by around 2% per annum in the period 2000 to 2015 (from around EUR 58/MWh to EUR 44/MWh in the period - source https://www.cbs.nl/-/media/_pdf/2016/45/national%20energy%20outlook%202016_summary.pdf ). At the same time AMS-IX traffic has increased 20-40% per annum. Given AMS-IX no doubt continues to spend most of its money on equipment and staff and not power, it is clear there is no linear relationship (and possibly no relationship at all) between Internet traffic (and usage) and power usage. As for overall electricity demand growth, the US EIA forecasts an increase in global electricity demand of 43% from 2012 to 2030. (Source: https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/ieo/pdf/0484(2016).pdf - figure 5-1). In 270 pages, this report does not mention once the energy demand of datacentres, information or communications technology on increasing electricity consumption. Surely if communications technology was going to comprise 51% of global electricity demand by 2030, as claimed in the paper linked from the second graph above, they would have at least mentioned this?”

Hi again Mike, thanks for this. 1. The point of AMS-IX isn't merely about cost, but about consumption period. Based on the information provided, even if they aren't spending more on energy, that doesn't mean more energy is being consumed. Also, let's say they only used solar, this would largely be irrelevant. It's also about being aware of the footprint we are leaving behind. It also might be distributed elsewhere along the infrastructure chain. 2. Indeed, it is strange that this report doesn't mention anything about it, but perhaps it was purposely left out of its scope. Alternatively, there could be a gulf between sustainable ICT researchers and the authors of this report. Also, I think the 51% mention is meant to be an upper-estimate of what it could be.

“While the AMS-IX graph is impressive, AMS-IX power usage has not increased in line with traffic growth. In fact, I'd guess their power bill has been more or less flat over the past 15 years. Moore's Law ensures that data traffic does not result in a linear growth of energy usage, nor does processing power grow in the same way - the average smartphone is about as powerful as a Cray 2 supercomputer of the mid-1980s which consumed around 200kW. A smartphone uses around 200mW for the same processing power, a million times more efficient. Its also unclear why the second graph only has exponential growth starting around now, when the Internet has been growing exponentially over the past 20+ years. The claim in the paper from which this graph is taken that by 2030, 51% of global electricity consumption will be for communications technology - higher than for all industrial energy usage today - is not credible. However, it is true that energy efficiency and greater use of renewables is important to all of us, and the ARMIX example is good to see, thank you for sharing that.”

Hi Mike, thank you for your comment (and please accept my apologies for the late response, I'm currently traveling). Also, many thanks for your kind words and support. It's my pleasure to share it! About AMS-IX, I hear your points. Whether or not their power usage has increased or not, though, is uncertain (I'll ask Bastiaan if he has any publically available data). Also, I addressed ICT power usage in a different article (referenced in the text). It's really uncertain how much energy use ICTs are taking globally. Regarding the second graph, while the Internet has been expanding significantly, the exponential nature of the graph is reflecting trends such as the proliferation of IoT, more global users, more intense use by individuals, and a host of other phenomena. The Internet grew to 3.5 billion users between the early 1990s and the mid 2010s. By 2020, another billion is meant to be online. This is a huge shift in growth patterns. So, when you say the paper's claim is not credible, there is no evidence as to why. Can you elaborate?

Thank you all so much for covering this, especially you Suzanne for spotlighting the session on sustainability :)

And you did wonderfully, Alastair! It was a pleasure to meet you, and I look forward to seeing you again soon.