Michael Bird (00:09):
Hello, and welcome back to Technology Now, a weekly show from Hewlett-Packard Enterprise where we take what's happening in the world around us and explore how it's changing the way organizations are using technology. We're your hosts, Michael Bird-
Aubrey Lovell (00:22):
And Aubrey Lovell. This week we're doing something a little unusual with a side plug to our sister show, Technology Untangled. We just recently launched its fourth series. So every two weeks we're taking a deep dive into an emerging technology or issue, which is affecting the way we work and the world at large.
Michael Bird (00:40):
Now, so far this series we've looked at bias in AI and how tech can be used to help rebuild society in times of crisis. And up next, coming throughout August, we've got a two-part special on our energy usage, in particular, how to get more of it and how to make use of what we've already got.
Aubrey Lovell (00:58):
Absolutely. It's a statistic we've mentioned before on this podcast, but the IT industry generates 6% of the world's CO2 and is one of the largest users of electricity. So what can we do to feed that need as well as using less of the juice? In this episode of Technology Now, we'll be diving into the most interesting bits from these upcoming episodes in our new series.
Michael Bird (01:21):
As always, if you're the kind of person who needs to know why what's going in the world matters to your organization, then this podcast, or rather these podcasts, are absolutely for you. Oh, and if you haven't yet done so, do make sure you subscribe on your podcast app of choice so you don't miss out on any future episodes. All right, Aubrey, let's do it.
Aubrey Lovell (01:41):
Let's do it.
Michael Bird (01:44):
In the first of this two-part special of Technology Untangled, we'll be looking at the ways in which we can generate more renewable energy with the tools available to us right now without having to wait for exotic technologies such as nuclear fusion, which is likely to still be decades away.
(02:01):
Among the case studies we'll be examining are biomass generation and waste to energy conversion. We're asking whether that could end up being a key component of our green transition.
Particia Thornley (02:11):
I'm Patricia Thornley. I'm director of the Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute. Bioenergy is the only renewable that can deliver net negative because it is extracting CO2 from the atmosphere and producing energy at the same time. There is no other energy source that does that.
(02:30):
Sustainable bioenergy without relying on imports could produce 45% of the UK's energy demand. And most of it is coming from wastes. It's coming from waste material that is part of the municipal waste stream, but also there's quite a lot of agricultural waste and residues. Most countries are actually higher than that in terms of what they could provide. Some of them are close to 100%. That's huge.
(02:58):
I was involved a few years ago in a project funded by the UK's Department for International Development where we looked at a whole host of countries across Sub-Saharan Africa. We concluded that there's potential for many of them to meet a huge proportion and in some cases all of the energy demand by switching from what is currently unsustainable fuelwood use and bringing that into a more sustainable form. Take some of that material, anaerobically digest it or gasify it and turn it into a gas, which then gets used for cooking.
(03:35):
We've got a lot of small companies doing great things. They often can be more agile, but they lack the technical support and the expertise and experience in that space. It's about supporting them in a way that they can scale up.
Aubrey Lovell (03:51):
Speaking of small companies doing great work with additional technical help, we'll also take a look at wave energy and how companies such as Carnegie Clean Energy based out of Australia are partnering with HPE and using AI and reinforcement learning to drastically improve the efficiency of a traditionally tricky and expensive form of energy generation.
Michael Bird (04:10):
But as we'll find out, it's not all about making more electricity, it's about saving it too. After all, we are already struggling to keep up with demand, so using less is a pretty good start. In the second part of the two-part special, we'll be taking a look at how we can use less of the energy we have both in the IT industry and as a population.
(04:30):
On the domestic side of things, we'll be speaking to Devrim Celal, CEO of Kraken Flex, a software platform owned by Octopus Energy that balances millions of energy using devices, everything from cars to electric heaters against those that can store or generate power, like wind turbines or battery packs.
(04:51):
Their aim is to overcome the limits of renewables only working effectively at certain points by balancing demand and spreading it throughout the day. He spoke to us about the technology and the importance of getting buy-in from the population to change their lifestyles and save energy.
Devrim Celal (05:08):
About a decade ago we had abundance of what we call thermal power generation. So you burned fossil fuels and you generated electricity, and those big power plants had one capability which was they could follow demand. So when you and I wanted to run our electric boilers, they would actually ramp up a little bit and generate the electricity we need.
(05:29):
Come to today, things have flipped upside down, so we no longer have the control of when electricity is generated, but our relationship with electricity is changing as we get electric vehicles or as we switch from gas boilers to air-source heat pumps.
(05:47):
But the good thing about that is the pattern of that is shiftable. It's not about using less, it's timing when you use it. And because an electric car is plugged in for 12 hours overnight and the typical charging need is about two hours, so you've got 12 hours to schedule two hours of charging. Why not do that when we have excess wind?
Michael Bird (06:10):
At like 2:00 in the morning or 3:00 in the morning when everyone's asleep?
Devrim Celal (06:13):
Absolutely. Especially if you don't have to get up and plug it in. If you have a trusted party like your retailer who will do that for you consistently. Octopus Energy has been leading that with what we call saving sessions, where effectively we tell our consumers tomorrow at 5:30 or 6:00, the system is going to be tight, which means that supply and demand, available generation and what we're going to require is quite close. We'd like you to use less electricity.
(06:40):
We sort of create a game. We basically tell you, Michael, we forecast at 5:00 PM you would've used 10 kilowatt-hours of electricity. Here's the game, let's see how low you can go. In the last two sessions, we've been able to get 200,000 people to participate and reduce their demand by a 100 megawatts. That's 40 massive wind turbines all generating at the same time on demand effectively. I think that's how the future of the energy system is going to happen.
Aubrey Lovell (07:10):
But it's not just about consumers. Industry, in particular the IT industry, has a part to play too. One of the facets we'll be discussing in the episode is that IT departments have only recently become aware of their true running costs, which seems kind of crazy.
(07:25):
But of course the amount of electricity that a building uses was typically dealt with by the facilities team. However, as we'll hear from Joe Baguley of VMware, the advent of cloud moved that cost offsite and ironically then placed it square in the laps of the IT execs who were actually using the resource.
Joe Baguely (07:47):
The IT department never thought about the consumption of the energy of the equipment. They would just turn them and say, "Data center people, please rack this up and do it." And that energy bill was lost somewhere else in the company's operational costs. And so there was never this direct correlation.
(07:54):
And so cloud really helped with that because cloud obviously then turned IT resources into a commodity. But when you start to commoditize something, cost becomes incredibly apparent because you'll have to cost it to do that. So actually I think cloud's been fantastic in exposing cost models through to people and enabling to think a little bit more from an architectural perspective in terms of the full cost because that's now being exposed quite dramatically.
(08:16):
I was talking to a customer in the Middle East recently who was saying that they were having problems because their colo in Luxembourg was going up more than two and a half times in price just due to energy. And so suddenly they were looking at us around consolidation around how they can start to basically run what they're currently running on a third of the hardware.
Michael Bird (08:32):
Finally, we'll also talk about some practical tips for those of us in the IT industry who may be looking at cutting the costs around their infrastructure now that they are aware it actually does have a cost with HPE Chief Technologist John Frey.
John Frey (08:45):
Look at the infrastructure and the technology that you have and if nothing else, make sure you're using the efficiency features built into it. For example, one of the reasons why data centers often have much more cooling than they need is because IT executives know that when the systems get too hot, they start failing.
(09:08):
HPE has been adding thermal sensors to critical components for years. One of the tools that we give to customers to get those devices on the network, HPE OneView, will show them the data output from those thermal sensors and show them exactly what their thermal situation looks at. They can see power consumption.
(09:26):
So they actually have the tools in many cases to resolve these challenges themself because the manufacturers have put them in the technology. But so many customers are unaware that those features exist in the hardware they already own.
Aubrey Lovell (09:41):
It really is a fascinating journey and we both really enjoyed making these episodes. We hope you'll enjoy listening to them, so be sure to join us by subscribing to Technology Entangled on your podcast app of choice.
Michael Bird (09:52):
Oh, and as a reminder, these episodes will be coming out throughout August.
Aubrey Lovell (09:59):
Next up, it's down to you, our audience. We open the floor for you to give your recommendations on books which have changed the way you look at the world, life, and business in the last 12 months. They could be technology-based, they could have changed the way you work, or they could have just made you look at the world in a totally different way.
Michael Bird (10:14):
If you want to share your recommendations, there's a link in the podcast description. Just record a voice note on your phone and send it over.
Speaker 7 (10:22):
My name is Mark [inaudible 00:10:23]. I'm a biological engineer at MIT. I read Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs for all the shortcomings of that man, Steve Jobs, in terms of his personality traits and how he managed people and his personal relationships. There were also positives very clearly about the visionary that he was, and not just the visionary, but also the disruptor and really focusing on changing the world and how he did that through Apple and its products.
(10:52):
I think for me that book was really impactful because it really takes you through the story of how Apple really emerged and evolved over the years. There's some great stories and some not so great stories in that history, but it's incredibly illuminating because I think if you're born today, our daughter is getting an iPhone, she's like, "Wow, this is magic. It came out of nowhere." Well, not quite. There's a long history of technology developments as well as marketing and pull from markets that had to happen to really propel that technology forward.
Michael Bird (11:30):
Brilliant. Thank you so much for that. Now it is time for TIL, Today I Learned. It's the part of the show where we each share something amazing or at least important that we've learned about in the world of technology this week. Now, we're going to be taking in turns to talk about an organization doing something we think you need to know about. So Aubrey, I reckon you should go first.
Aubrey Lovell (11:51):
I reckon I shall. Let me put on my nerd glasses. Okay. Well, I am obviously sticking to the theme of electricity today with an incredible new battery announcement from NASA, which could pave the way for electric aircraft at some point in the future. I'm not going to jinx it by saying the near future because we all know that battery tech comes and goes, but this one seems pretty cool.
(12:15):
The latest and greatest, NASA has unveiled a new solid state battery using sulfur and selenium designed as part of their, quote, "Solid-state Architecture Batteries for Enhanced Rechargeability and Safety program." Try to say that 10 times fast.
Michael Bird (12:30):
It really rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?
Aubrey Lovell (12:32):
It really does. It's so eloquent. It's SABERS for short. Let's just keep it simple. The best battery option we have at the moment for dense, reliable, powerful electricity on the go is lithium ion. Unfortunately, it's bulky and flammable, which are two bad words, especially when in NASA's case you are concentrating on aircraft propulsion.
(12:51):
However, this new battery has twice the energy density of lithium ion batteries and it can be stacked up without protective casings, unlike lithium ion batteries which need to be contained, making it even more space efficient and 40% lighter. It doesn't catch fire, which is also helpful in an airplane. And it can withstand twice the temperatures of lithium ion and discharge 15 times faster, which is useful for takeoff and landing.
(13:18):
There's still a long way to go before it becomes commercially scalable and even longer before someone actually tries putting it in a commercial jet, but it's a very promising technology.
Michael Bird (13:28):
Wow. Yeah, that is pretty cool. Well, I'm taking us global this week with the official launch of Worldcoin, a new cryptocurrency founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Okay, a new crypto coin.
(13:45):
What's new to separate it from the Ethereums, Bitcoins, and Dogecoins of the world? Well, it is designed to be a whole alternative identity and financial network owned by the public, which offers a so-called World ID, which verifies the ID's owner is a real human. The idea is that it keeps you anonymous but also proves that you're not a bot, I love the rhyme, leading to better security and less cyber attacks.
(14:15):
It's not without controversies though, because in order to sign up, you'll need to do an in-person biometric screening, which means getting a full face and iris scan by one of Worldcoin's orbs. These are silver balls placed in various locations worldwide.
(14:30):
In a letter outlining its mission statement, the organization claims, quote, "Worldcoin could drastically increase economic opportunity, scale a reliable solution for distinguishing humans from AI online while preserving privacy, enable global democratic processes, and eventually show a potential path to AI-funded universal basic income."
Aubrey Lovell (14:52):
Wow.
Michael Bird (14:52):
Fascinating. In short, new users get a currency simply for being human. In less exciting terms, you could just call it a signup bonus. It's an interesting idea, although how well online anonymity meshes with having to get an appointment for a retinal scan remains to be seen.
Aubrey Lovell (15:11):
That is so fascinating. It's very James Bond-like, but I'm here for it.
Michael Bird (15:16):
Yeah, really interesting.
Aubrey Lovell (15:17):
And again, we'll drop a couple of links in the podcast description for more on these topics.
(15:24):
Right. We're getting towards the end of the show, which means it's time for This Week in History.
Michael Bird (15:31):
This Week in History.
Aubrey Lovell (15:34):
A look at monumental events in the world of business and technology, which has changed our lives and of course mine with Michael being my backup singer.
Michael Bird (15:42):
Thank you. It's a job I really love doing. Now, the clue last week was happy birthday to the mother of all computers. Aubrey, I had no idea what this one was. What about you?
Aubrey Lovell (15:53):
Same. I was clueless.
Michael Bird (15:55):
It is of course the birth of Mina Rees, computer pioneer and general scientific rockstar born this week in 1902. Rees was a doctor in mathematics and one of the first women to be involved in advancing computer science through her work running the Office of Naval Research after World War II, where she organized work and funding for early computers such as the Harvard Mark 1.
(16:21):
Now, she wasn't just a brilliant scientist, she was an amazing administrator and networker who just had a knack for making the impossible happen. The research she helped get backing for drove the first couple of decades of computing after World War II and kickstarted the IT industry as we know it. So yeah, absolute rockstar.
Aubrey Lovell (16:42):
That is an amazing story. I love stories when it comes to women and pioneering. Fantastic. The clue for next week is, it's 1898, let's get this party motoring. Know what it is? Don't tell.
Michael Bird (16:56):
I have absolutely no idea. I thought to do with a car, so who knows?
Aubrey Lovell (17:01):
Maybe. That brings us to the end of Technology Now for this week. Keep those suggestions for life-changing books coming using the link in the podcast description.
Michael Bird (17:10):
In the meantime, do check out Technology Untangled. We learned so much and we had so much fun making it, and I'm sure you'll enjoy listening to it as well.
(17:19):
Thank you all so much for joining us. Technology Now is hosted by Aubrey Lovell and me, Michael Bird. This episode was produced by Sam Datta-Paulin and Zoe Anderson with production support from Harry Morton, Alicia Kempson, Alison Paisley, Camilla Patel, and Alex Podmore. Technology Now is a Lower Street production for Hewlett Packard Enterprise. We'll see you next week.
Aubrey Lovell (17:41):
Bye for now.