With 10,000 cows can run 1,000 servers are
HP With 10,000 cows can run 1,000 servers increasingly diverse.
The race seems to expand alternative energy proposals from researchers who have shifted from the sun, wind and tides to study algae and cows as potential sources of energy.
reduce energy consumption in data centers, especially now that U.S. is considering a tax on carbon emissions is driving companies to explore ideas are increasingly diverse.
Such is the case of HP engineers, to ensure that biogas offers a new type of alternative energy for IT managers.
HP Labs researchers have produced a document (download PDF) on the use of manure cows from dairy farms and fattening to generate electricity. In that document the research team calculated that a hypothetical 10,000 cows farm could generate enough energy to power to 1,000 servers.
At the moment this is a project that has not been implemented because, according to Tom Christian, a researcher at the company, "has not yet submitted a purchase order for the cows."
organic matter and is used by farms to generate energy through a process called 'anaerobic digestion' which produces a methane-rich biogas. The document presented by HP shows how the process could be extended to operate a data center from the amount of manure produced by a dairy cow.
Interest in this type of projects grows when you consider that most companies are making data centers to rural areas, where high-speed networks allow them to take advantage of lower costs in these areas.
The real problem is how to involve no less than 10,000 cows at a data center, where to place them. The average size of a U.S. farm of 1,000 cows, some 5,000 are quite unusual.
