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

[Phillip Hallam-Baker <[e-mail]>]

While the notion that Quantum Computing might be used to work out how root
vegetables fix nitrogen at room temperature is certainly interesting, there
is a team at MIT that recently showed they can fix nitrogen with a small
fraction of the energy required by the Harber-Bosch process. They have not
yet demonstrated their approach at industrial scale but they have proof of
concept.

Government funded research shows huge returns but rarely those expected and
almost never in the form anticipated. If it does, it wasn't research, it
was development.

*Governments poured billions of dollars into CERN, they got a global
information system that has added trillions of dollars a year to global GDP
instead.

* Governments have poured billions of dollars into tokamak fusion reactors.
Quaise energy is currently applying the gyrotron technology developed for
that program to drill really deep holes in the hope of unlocking cheap
geothermal energy in almost any geology.

So it might be that the contribution of quantum computing is to get people
to work on the problem of fixing nitrogen etc. rather than solving that one
itself.


It might also be the case that enabling computationally intensive
operations to be shuffled off to places like Iceland which have essentially
free energy might be the way the Internet contributes to the environment
rather than a reduction in the energy it uses.

In the short term, pushing for long jail sentences for anyone who holds,
trades or mines BitCoin etc. is probably the biggest contribution the tech
sector can make.

On Fri, Aug 25, 2023 at 1:18 AM Hesham ElBakoury <[e-mail]>
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/] 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/
>
> *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).
> 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.
> "*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.nrel.gov/aries/index.html>, 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.  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]> 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]> - IAB
>>  • Jari Arkko <[e-mail]>
>>
>> Mailing list:
>>
>>  • Address: [e-mail]
>>  • To subscribe: https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/e-impact
>>  • Archive: https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/browse/e-impact/
>>
>> Program Page: https://datatracker.ietf.org/group/eimpact/about/
>>
>> 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/
>>     [2] https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/e-impact
>>
>> --
>> E-impact mailing list
>> [e-mail]
>> https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/e-impact
>>
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