IT industry urged to use expertise to save energy

The information-technology industry should take the lead in adopting and promoting efficient energy use for the benefit of future generations, said Eddie Desouza, head of business operations for power distribution unit (PDU) vendor Enlogic.

Desouza said he believed the IT industry had a role to play, on the basis that it touched every area of society from mobile phones to television sets. If the IT industry is able to change public perceptions, then it is also obligated to work for the benefit of society, he said. 

The government should also take a more active approach in supporting the IT industry by promoting “smart” energy innovations, he said. 

Over the past few weeks, Desouza has been travelling to Asia-Pacific countries to meet customers, observe market dynamics and educate industry players about Enlogic products.

Enlogic was founded in March 2011 to provide energy-metering PDUs that are designed to simplify data-centre management and enable their efficient energy use. The company, which has a global presence in the United States, Europe and a number of Asian countries, is now looking at establishing a presence in Thailand. Desouza said it was also eyeing Russia, Brazil and the Middle East for its second phase of expansion. 

“With our natural resources being depleted, the question is, how will we become energy-smart? This is what the world needs to focus on.” 

He pointed out that the number of mobile users in Thailand had grown from just 7.9 million subscribers in 2001 to more than 70 million in 2010. The number of Internet users in Thailand has also grown. Increasing Internet use means that more data has to be stored, and data centres are struggling to keep up. As the amount of data increases, data centres will require ever-larger amounts of energy and space. 

Desouza said that if Thailand’s energy supply is unable to keep up with demand, service outages of electricity and Internet-based services could become a critical problem. The data-centre industry has to reduce energy consumption and increase efficiency to keep up with increased use of information and communication technology in Thailand. 

“If the current generation does not try to make a difference, the next generation will pay the price – it’s that simple. We have to do whatever we can to make things better and let the future generations pick up on that,” he said.

Thailand escaped a possible energy crisis last month, thanks to a national energy-saving campaign and lower-than-expected temperatures. This followed Myanmar’s temporary shutdown of the Yadana gas field from April 4-12, cutting off a daily supply of about 1,030 million cubic feet of natural gas to Thailand, which depends heavily on gas to fuel its power plants.