1. Carla Ellis Duke University
Grand Challenge:
Global Climate Change
Carla Ellis Duke University
It is hard to imagine that any truly "Grand Challenge" can be
compartmentalized into the relatively narrow domain of distributed systems.
Such problems should drive technological advances across a broad range of
disciplines; just limiting the discussion to computer science and engineering,
these might include new materials, circuit design, computing architecture,
software systems, applications, and HCI. Certainly, distributed computing can
play a role in problems significant enough to science and society to be called
"grand.“
So for something sufficiently “grand” and “challenging” – global climate change / disruption
Then the question is – what do D.S. have to contribute?
There are two dimensions to this theme:
What do Distributed Systems have to do with it?
Carla Ellis / Duke University / NSF Grand Challenges in Distributed Systems MIT / Sept, 29-30, 2005

2. A “Greener” Computing Infrastructure
Reducing the
environmental
impact of
Manufacture, deployment, and disposal
Energy cost of running and cooling
(1) making our future computing infrastructure safer for the environment
As computer scientists, we should “do no harm”.
We aren’t directly spewing greenhouse gases by powering our computing infrastructure, so what’s our problem?
Most of the additional electric generating capacity built in the last 5 years is oil & natural gas
A recent UNU study found that the ave desktop computer with monitor requires 10X its weight in fossil fuels and chemicals to manufacture.
Short lifespan – 12 million PCs landfilled annually
Energy used over the lifecycle of a desktop computer > refrigerator.
% of electric load <<statistics needed>>
A "greener" computing infrastructure will entail
(1a) reducing the energy and materials going into manufacture, deployment, and
retirement of computing devices and
(1b) reducing the energy (especially from non-renewable sources) of running and cooling our computing infrastructure.

3. Supporting Climate Science & Engineering
Computational support for science of global climate change
Applications to enhance energy efficiency / management outside the computing sector
(2) finding ways for computing to serve the environment.
Has the computer systems research community
Tried to understand the needs of the climate change communities,
Found an effective way to contribute our expertise,
Built the right tools
To have a positive impact on their endeavers?
Computing to serve the environmental goals will entail (2a) computational
support for the sciences studying global climate change and (2b) applications of
computing to enhance energy efficiency beyond the traditional computing
infrastructure.

4. Role for Distributed Computing Research in Greener Computing
Improved lifecycle: reduce/reuse/recycle
Incentive systems to encourage energy-motivated resource sharing
P2P to achieve more efficient utilization of existing unused capacity
Low power / low energy computing systems
Broader systems context for energy management
Lessons from mobile computing – tolerating disconnectedness – not always “on”
Develop energy metrics / measurement expertise / tools
(1a) There are estimates that the typical desktop computer requires ten
times its weight in fossil fuels and chemicals in its manufacture while there
exists significant unused computing capacity in the Internet. Creating better
incentives (and eliminating disincentives) for sharing can allow more efficient
utilization of existing resources. P2P can be viewed as an analogy to carpooling
with private PCs seen as the equivalent of SUVs in every garage. Emerging
technologies offering a "greener" lifecycle may require new forms of software
system support. (1b) The low-hanging fruit of computing device energy
management has been recently harvested. Further progress in energy efficient
computing requires a more aggressive approach and a broader systems context.
Carla Ellis / Duke University / NSF Grand Challenges in Distributed Systems MIT / Sept, 29-30, 2005

5. Role for Distributed Computing Research in Climate Science
Deployment of sensor networks designed specifically for environmental monitoring
Harvesting energy in the field
Dynamic data driving large-scale scientific simulations
Application-specific tools
(2a) Grid computing and wireless sensor networks combine to support dynamic
data-driven simulations of the environment.
Carla Ellis / Duke University / NSF Grand Challenges in Distributed Systems MIT / Sept, 29-30, 2005

6. Role for Distributed Computing Research in Energy Management
Managing energy distribution systems
Microgrids: peer-to-peer power generation
Supporting energy conservation efforts in buildings, transportation systems, manufacturing processes, etc.
Interfaces exposing energy use to users
Collaboration applications for more effective teleconferencing / telecommuting
2b) Distributed applications can
manage energy use and distribution systems in buildings, transportation
systems, homes, utilities, manufacturing processes, etc. Pervasive computing
changes the way people and businesses interact with significant potential for
energy savings (e.g., teleconferencing).
Carla Ellis / Duke University / NSF Grand Challenges in Distributed Systems MIT / Sept, 29-30, 2005

7. Implications for NSF
Inter-disciplinary research with scientists & engineers dealing with environmental and energy problems.
Any new networking hardware should emphasize energy efficiency.
Is it a candidate for a CISE program?
Potential to redirect lots of areas of expertise in systems to new goals, different metrics & underlying assumptions.
Carla Ellis / Duke University / NSF Grand Challenges in Distributed Systems MIT / Sept, 29-30, 2005