Search results

Digital archiving, green IT and environment

The development of the World Wide Web, the emergence of social media and Big Data have led to a rising amount of data. Infor¬mation and Communication Technol¬ogies (ICTs) affect the environment in various ways. Their energy consumption is growing exponentially, with and without the use of ‘green’ energy. Increasing envi¬ronmental aware¬ness has led to discussions on sustainable development. The data deluge makes it not only necessary to pay attention to the hard‑ and software di¬mensions of ICTs but also to the ‘value’ of the data stored. In this paper, we study the possibility to methodically reduce the amount of stored data and records in organizations based on the ‘value’ of informa¬tion, using the Green Archiving Model we have developed. Reducing the amount of data and records in organizations helps in allowing organizations to fight the data deluge and to realize the objectives of both Digital Archiving and Green IT. At the same time, methodi¬cally deleting data and records should reduce the con¬sumption of electricity for data storage. As a consequencs, the organizational cost for electricity use should be reduced. Our research showed that the model can be used to reduce [1] the amount of data (45 percent, using Archival Retention Levels and Retention Schedules) and [2] the electricity con¬sumption for data storage (resulting in a cost reduction of 35 percent). Our research indicates that the Green Ar¬chiving Model is a viable model to reduce the amount of stored data and records and to curb electricity use for storage in organi¬zations. This paper is the result of the first stage of a research project that is aimed at devel¬oping low power ICTs that will automa¬tically appraise, select, preserve or permanently delete data based on their ‘value’. Such an ICT will automatically reduce storage capacity and reduce electricity con¬sumption used for data storage. At the same time, data dispos¬al will reduce overload caused by storing the sa¬me data in different for¬mats, it will lower costs and it reduces the po¬tential for liability.

Digital Archiving, Green IT and Environment. Deleting Data to Manage Critical Effects of the Data Deluge

The development of the World Wide Web, the emergence of social media and Big Data have led to a rising amount of data. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) affect the environment in various ways. Their energyconsumption is growing exponentially, with and without the use of ‘green’ energy. Increasing environmental awareness has led to discussions on sustainable development. The data deluge makes it not only necessary to pay attention to the hard- and software dimensions of ICTs but also to the ‘value’ of the data stored. In this paper, we study the possibility to methodically reduce the amount of stored data and records in organizations based on the ‘value’ of information, using the Green Archiving Model we have developed. Reducing the amount of data and records in organizations helps in allowing organizations to fight the data deluge and to realize the objectives of both Digital Archiving and Green IT. At the same time, methodically deleting data and records should reduce the consumption of electricity for data storage. As a consequence, the organizational cost for electricity use should be reduced. Our research showed that the model can be used to reduce [1] the amount of data (45 percent, using Archival Retention Levels and Retention Schedules) and [2] the electricity consumption for data storage (resulting in a cost reduction of 35 percent). Our research indicates that the Green Archiving Model is a viable model to reduce the amount of stored data and records and to curb electricity use for storage in organizations. This paper is the result of the first stage of a research project that is aimed at developing low power ICTs that will automatically appraise, select, preserve or permanently delete data based on their ‘value’. Such an ICT will automatically reduce storage capacity and reduce electricity consumption used for data storage. At the same time, data disposal will reduce overload caused by storing the same data in different formats, it will lower costs and it reduces the potential forliability.

µPlasma Patterning and Inkjet Printing to enhance localized wetting and mixing behaviour

With a market demand for low cost, easy to produce, flexible and portable applications in healthcare, energy, biomedical or electronics markets, large research programs are initiated to develop new technologies to provide this demand with new innovative ideas. One of these fast developing technologies is organic printed electronics. As the term printed electronics implies, functional materials are printed via, e.g. inkjet, flexo or gravure printing techniques, on to a substrate material. Applications are, among others, organic light emitting diodes (OLED), sensors and Lab-on-a-chip devices. For all these applications, in some way, the interaction of fluids with the substrate is of great importance. The most used substrate materials for these low-cost devices are (coated) paper or plastic. Plastic substrates have a relatively low surface energy which frequently leads to poor wetting and/or poor adhesion of the fluids on the substrates during printing and/ or post-processing. Plasma technology has had a long history in treating materials in order to improve wetting or promote adhesion. The µPlasma patterning tool described in this thesis combines a digital inkjet printing platform with an atmospheric dielectric barrier discharge plasma tool. Thus enabling selective and local plasma treatment, at atmospheric pressure, of substrates without the use of any masking materials. In this thesis, we show that dependent on the gas composition the substrate surface can either be functionalized, thus increasing its surface energy, or material can be deposited on the surface, lowering its surface energy. Through XPS and ATR-FTIR analysis of the treated (polymer) substrate surfaces, chemical modification of the surface structure was confirmed. The chemical modification and wetting properties of the treated substrates remained present for at least one month after storage. Localized changes in wettability through µPlasma patterning were obtained with a resolution of 300µm. Next to the control of wettability of an ink on a substrate in printed electronics is the interaction of ink droplets with themselves of importance. In printing applications, coalescence of droplets is standard practice as consecutive droplets are printed onto, or close to each other. Understanding the behaviour of these droplets upon coalescence is therefore important, especially when the ink droplets are of different composition and/or volume. For droplets of equal volume, it was found that dye transport across the coalescence bridge could be fully described by diffusion only. This is as expected, as due to the droplet symmetry on either side of the bridge, the convective flows towards the bridge are of equal size but opposite in direction. For droplets of unequal volume, the symmetry across the bridge is no longer present. Experimental analysis of these merging droplets show that in the early stages of coalescence a convective flow from the small to large droplet is present. Also, a smaller convective flow of shorter duration from the large into the small droplet was identified. The origin of this flow might be due to the presence of vortices along the interface of the bridge, due to the strong transverse flow to open the bridge. To conclude, three potential applications were showcased. In the first application we used µPlasma patterning to create hydrophilic patterns on hydrophobic dodecyl-trichlorosilane (DTS) covered glass. Capillaries for a Lab-on-a-chip device were successfully created by placing two µPlasma patterned glass slides on top of each other separated by scotch tape. In the second application we showcased the production of a RFID tag via inkjet printing. Functional RFID-tags on paper were created via inkjet printing of silver nanoparticle ink connected to an integrated circuit. The optimal operating frequency of the produced tags is in the range of 860-865 MHz, making them usable for the European market, although the small working range of 1 m needs further improvement. Lastly, we showed the production of a chemresistor based gas sensor. In house synthesised polyemeraldine salt (PANi) was coated by hand on top of inkjet printed silver electrodes. The sensor proved to be equally sensitive to ethanol and water vapour, reducing its selectivity in detecting changes in gas composition.

Power-to-ammonia: rethinking the role of ammonia – from a value product to a flexible energy carrier (FlexNH3)

This report focuses on the feasibility of the power-to-ammonia concept. Power-to-ammonia uses produced excess renewable electricity to electrolyze water, and then to react the obtained hydrogen with nitrogen, which is obtained through air separation, to produce ammonia. This process may be used as a “balancing load” to consume excess electricity on the grid and maintain grid stability. The product, ammonia, plays the role of a chemical storage option for excess renewable energy. This excess energy in the form of ammonia can be stored for long periods of time using mature technologies and an existing global infrastructure, and can further be used either as a fuel or a chemical commodity. Ammonia has a higher energy density than hydrogen; it is easier to store and transport than hydrogen, and it is much easier to liquefy than methane, and offers an energy chain with low carbon emissions.The objective of this study is to analyze technical, institutional and economic aspects of power-to-ammonia and the usage of ammonia as a flexible energy carrier.

Green Archiving

Computers create environmental problems. Their production requires electricity, raw materials, chemical materials and large amounts of water, and supplies (often toxic) waste. They poison dumping sites and pollute groundwater. In addition, the energy consumption in IT is growing exponentially, with and without the use of ‘green’ energy. Increasing environmental awareness within information science has led to discussions on sustainable development. ‘Green Computing’ has been introduced: the study and practice of environmentally sustainable computing or IT. It is necessary to pay attention to the value of the information stored. In this paper, we explored the possibilities of combining Green Computing components with two theories of archival science (Archival Retention Levels and Information Value Chain respectively) to curb unnecessary power consumption. Because in 2012 storage networks were responsible for almost 30 % of total IT energy costs, reducing the amount of stored information by the disposal of unneeded information should have a direct effect on IT energy use. Based on a theoretical analysis and qualitative interviews with an expert group, we developed a ‘Green Archiving’ model, that could be used by organizations to 1] reduce the amount of stored information, and 2] reduce IT power consumption. We used two exploratory case studies to research the viability of this model.

Flywheel Energy Storage Systems A Review WP4.3