Publications

High Tech: Low Carbon The role of technology in tackling climate change

Section 2: What the technology sector does for other sectors: enhance, enable, transform

B: Enabling technologies

Evident Europe: Digital Evidence Seals™
Evident Europe provides Digital Evidence Seals™ that enable organisations to prove that digital data, documents and records have not been altered. An Evidence Seal™ is a simple piece of XML based data which is cryptographically appended to any digital data, over any digital medium. It proves, indisputably, over time which parties were involved, what the original information or data was and when the event happened. It provides independent validation, guarantees data integrity (as any changes to the original data are immediately verifiable), durability, transparency and portability. The key environmental benefit of Digital Evidence Seals is that they are a critical enabler of the paperless office. Traditionally, documents had to be printed in hard copy to be authenticated, and then stored securely. Now there is no need to do that, and documents can remain in electronic format indefinitely, without risk.

View Evident Europe: Digital Evidence Seals case study (pdf 167.08 KB) more»

IBM: recycling silicon for solar power
IBM has developed an innovative new semiconductor wafer reclamation process which will enable 3 million wafers to be re-used annually. Semiconductor wafers are the thin discs of silicon used to imprint patterns that make finished semiconductor chips. The IBM process uses a specialised pattern removal technique to repurpose scrap semiconductor wafers into a form that can be used to manufacture silicon-based solar panels. The new process was awarded the “2007 most valuable pollution prevention award by the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable (NPPR) in the US. The process enables the Intellectual property from the wafer surface to be removed efficiently and hence allows the wafers to be reused. The solar industry is currently being held back by severe shortage of silicon, which is one of the primary materials needed to manufacture solar panels. Re-using silicon in this way helps to stimulate the growth of renewable energy solutions.

View IBM: recycling silicon for solar power case study (pdf 23.32 KB) more»

Philips: internet information and entertainment services
Philips provides a wide variety of third-party information and entertainment services through its easylog user interface. TV-based information can substitute paper-based versions and in particular the electronic delivery of entertainment content through Video on Demand (VOD) is substituting disc-based distribution (DVD), saving materials (paper, plastic, ink, etc.), plus the physical distribution of the DVDs via the stores to homes. Philips has estimated that in Europe people travel around 33 million km per year to buy or rent DVDs and that VOD can therefore reduce annual CO2 emissions by around 6.6million kg. VOD also obviates the need to produce 2 million or so DVDs a year, a further saving of at least 181900kg of CO2. Moreover, VOD does not require a DVD player which reduces the energy required for viewing over a physical video or DVD, a further saving of around 113.5 million kg of CO2 emissions per year.

Siemens: document management systems and emissions trading
On January 01, 2005, the EU launched its emissions trading plan. Since then, installations with high CO2 emissions may only produce as much CO2 as is allocated in their certificates. If their emissions are higher, they must purchase additional certificates. Conversely, any plant that cuts CO2 emissions below its allowance can sell its remaining credits. Once a year, about 1,850 companies in Germany must report their CO2 emissions to the German Trading Emissions Authority (DEHSt). This is done via the Internet, with a document management system developed by Siemens together with partners. In a multistage process, the emissions data from the plant operator is first collected online and then checked by an expert assessor. The report is then sent, complete with an electronic signature, to state authorities. In order to prepare this report, companies can use Simeos, an emission management software package from Siemens. It combines data from measuring points, energy data management systems, financial accounting, and other company processes into a CO2 account that helps to optimise emissions trading. The software also classifies the flow of energy and materials according to specific products and different forms of energy, providing rapid and easy identification of potential savings in energy and energy costs.

Siemens: intelligent algorithms for smart grids
Siemens “learning” algorithms maximise the power generated by wind farms by introducing cooperation among all wind turbines. The increase of power output is estimated at 1-5 percent. Siemens offshore wind farms are generally controlled remotely via ICT solutions and even defects can be detected and often repaired remotely by software applications.

Xerox: electronic reusable paper – Gyricon
Electronic reusable paper is a display material that has many of the properties of paper. It stores an image, is viewed in reflective light, has a wide viewing angle, is flexible, and is relatively inexpensive. Unlike conventional paper, however, it is electrically writeable and erasable. Although projected to cost somewhat more than a normal piece of paper, a sheet of electronic reusable paper could be re-used thousands of times. This material has many potential applications in the field of information display including digital books, low-power portable displays, wall-sized displays, and fold-up displays.

Electronic reusable paper utilises a display technology, invented at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), called "Gyricon." A Gyricon sheet is a thin layer of transparent plastic in which millions of small beads, somewhat like toner particles, are randomly dispersed. The beads, each contained in an oil-filled cavity, are free to rotate within those cavities. The beads are "bichromal," with hemispheres of two contrasting colors (e.g. black and white, red and white), and charged so they exhibit an electrical dipole. When voltage is applied to the surface of the sheet, the beads rotate to present one colored side to the viewer. Voltages can be applied to the surface to create images such as text and pictures. The image will persist until new voltage patterns are applied. There are many ways an image can be created in electronic reusable paper. For example, sheets can be fed into printer-like devices that will erase old images and create new images. Printer-like devices can be made so compact and inexpensive that you can imagine carrying one in a purse or briefcase at all times. One envisioned device, called a wand, could be pulled by hand across a sheet of electronic reusable paper to create an image. With a built-in input scanner, this wand becomes a hand-operated multi-function device – a printer, copier, fax, and scanner, all in one.

View Xerox: electronic reusable paper – Gyricon case study more»