Re: [arch-d] [E-impact] New IAB Technical Program: Environmental Impacts of Internet Technology (EIMPACT)

[Arnaud Taddei <[e-mail]>]

Hesham, I would like to backup Colin here.

>From all the work done at the ITU, I don’t see either, how any Quantum technology (be computing, network, key distribution, etc.) is going to have any significant environmental impact.

Best

From: Architecture-discuss <[e-mail]> on behalf of Colin Perkins <[e-mail]>
Date: Friday, 25 August 2023 at 09:27
To: Hesham ElBakoury <[e-mail]>
Cc: IAB <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: [arch-d] [E-impact] New IAB Technical Program: Environmental Impacts of Internet Technology (EIMPACT)

Hesham,

Quantum Computing is an interesting area that can provide many benefits. I'm unconvinced that it will provide a meaningful way to reduce the environmental impact of the Internet in a useful timeframe to meet emissions targets, however.

The IRTF has a long standing Quantum Internet Research Group.

Colin


On 25 Aug 2023, at 6:17, Hesham ElBakoury wrote:
Thanks for IAB efforts to create this program which also looks into IRTF research topics.

There are two interesting research topics that I would like discus, but I am not sure if they are within the scope of this IAB program. Both topics are related to Quantum Computing.

1) Looking into the energy efficiency of quantum computing is an interesting topic for quantum Internet research.  For example, there is Quantum Energy Initiative (QEI) [https://quantum-energy-initiative.org/<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://quantum-energy-initiative.org/&source=gmail-imap&ust=1693553272000000&usg=AOvVaw2iYVQfF7Chd2JvJnUeZwrv>] which provides a "path towards energy-efficient, sustainable quantum technologies, and to possibly bring out an energetic quantum advantage."

IEEE is interested in this topic, therefore, it has launched the IEEE P3329 project to look into it. You can access the website of this project here: https://sagroups.ieee.org/qei/<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sagroups.ieee.org/qei/&source=gmail-imap&ust=1693553272000000&usg=AOvVaw1PvaXeIc4KdtozfPu3x0rb>

2) Using Quantum Computing to fight against climate change and create an energy efficient Internet is another interesting research topic.

Regarding this topic, please refer to the McKinsey report "Quantum computing just might save the planet"
(https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/quantum-computing-just-might-save-the-planet?cid=eml-app<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/quantum-computing-just-might-save-the-planet?cid%3Deml-app&source=gmail-imap&ust=1693553272000000&usg=AOvVaw1xnlGTmEs4CRKNuwNzNLVn>). The report describes using different use cases how "The emerging technology of Quantum Computing could revolutionize the fight against climate change, transforming the economics of decarbonization and becoming a major factor in limiting global warming to the target temperature of 1.5°C. Exponentially more powerful machines could make possible major reductions in emissions, putting the goal of limiting global warming within reach."

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has this news release:
https://www.nrel.gov/news/program/2023/quantum-computers-can-now-interface-with-power-grid-equipment.html<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nrel.gov/news/program/2023/quantum-computers-can-now-interface-with-power-grid-equipment.html&source=gmail-imap&ust=1693553272000000&usg=AOvVaw0HqEDuusfoRd4T3tNB1fGt>. "With its head-spinning size and connections, the power system is so complex that even supercomputers struggle to efficiently solve certain optimization problems. But quantum computers might fare better, and now researchers can explore that prospect thanks to a software interface between quantum computers and grid equipment.
The link from quantum to grid—achieved by a team from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with funding from the Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and in collaboration with RTDS Technologies Inc., and Atom Computing—allows researchers to perform “quantum-in-the-loop” experiments. And this capability goes beyond just energy devices: With NREL’s Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES)<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nrel.gov/aries/index.html&source=gmail-imap&ust=1693553272000000&usg=AOvVaw1j92_vg7jUZJYryM28hvA8>, researchers can run quantum in-the-loop within highly realistic power systems. Quantum in-the-loop could be an important next step for using quantum computing to optimize electric grid operations with the interconnection of increasingly complex distributed energy resources." You can find more details in this paper https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10108354<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10108354&source=gmail-imap&ust=1693553272000000&usg=AOvVaw2quQTwKLo04wl6-IsntBXT>.  Using Quantum Computing the same way can help optimize the energy usage of the Internet. For example it can be used to calculate the schedule for Internert routers as described in tvr.

Comments?

Thanks
Hesham

On Thu, Aug 24, 2023, 10:54 AM IAB Executive Administrative Manager <[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
A new IAB Technical Program has been formed on Environmental Impacts of
Internet Technology (EIMPACT). For additional information, please
contact the Program Leads.

Environmental Impacts of Internet Technology (EIMPACT) Program
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Program Leads:

 • Suresh Krishnan <[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>> - IAB
 • Jari Arkko <[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>>

Mailing list:

 • Address: [e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>
 • To subscribe: https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/e-impact<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/e-impact&source=gmail-imap&ust=1693553272000000&usg=AOvVaw32AWpt5esbFg0SrNHnyuN7>
 • Archive: https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/browse/e-impact/<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/browse/e-impact/&source=gmail-imap&ust=1693553272000000&usg=AOvVaw2pZzgwooF8hUSH3dfq7oEG>

Program Page: https://datatracker.ietf.org/group/eimpact/about/<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://datatracker.ietf.org/group/eimpact/about/&source=gmail-imap&ust=1693553272000000&usg=AOvVaw1I6FHXLvljS4xAPKyGdMZ1>

Program Description:

The E-Impact Program is a venue for discussing environmental impacts
and sustainability of Internet technology. Within this scope, the
program looks at trends, issues, improvement opportunities, ideas, best
practices, and subsequent direction of work related to Internet
technology, architecture, and operations, including visibility and
efficiency on energy and other environmentally-impacting attributes. In
particular, the group focuses on Internet architecture's role in these
topics.

The program targets topics not yet progressed into concrete standards
or research efforts in the IETF or IRTF while also being a coordination
point for work across multiple WGs/RGs, and a venue to highlight
ongoing work in the IETF/IRTF as well as external SDOs. The program
will use the existing E-Impact mailing list [2] as the venue for
discussions.

The program's progress and the quality of discussion may point to the
need to organize additional workshop(s) to continue the 2022 IAB
workshop on the Environmental Impact of Internet Applications and
Systems [1].

The program may work on documents that analyze areas where Internet
technology faces challenges related to the program's topics or provide
architectural guidance. Potential examples of such documents include
ones that describe sustainable network architectures, and those that
document tradeoffs between environmental impacts and other
characteristics such as performance and availability. Publishing any
document as an RFC will be at the discretion of the IAB.

The program intends to have regular virtual meetings along with
periodic hybrid meetings that are co-located with in-person IETF
meetings. The program is open to all interested participants, and its
meetings will be publicly announced.

References:

    [1] https://datatracker.ietf.org/group/eimpactws/about/<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://datatracker.ietf.org/group/eimpactws/about/&source=gmail-imap&ust=1693553272000000&usg=AOvVaw0C2vj5m1mc08cxQy3fhccJ>
    [2] https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/e-impact<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/e-impact&source=gmail-imap&ust=1693553272000000&usg=AOvVaw32AWpt5esbFg0SrNHnyuN7>

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