A company in Silicon Valley has announced a plan to refurb mothballed ships and put data centers on them, a great example of out of the box thinking driven by rising energy costs. Data centers generate a lot of heat which requires costly cooling solutions. They plan to pump seawater in as a coolant saving an estimated 30%. They also will have back-up generators powered by the ships’ engines which could run for up to thirty days. Pretty cool idea.

It is rare when my two fascinations, climate issues and Internet marketing, cross paths. However, according to Information Week, broadband usage is going to save the equivalent of 11% of our annual oil imports over the next decade:

” The pervasive use of broadband Internet connections and the tools and practices they enable could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by some 1 billion tons over the next decade, according to the American Consumer Institute. Widespread adoption of broadband in the United States alone would cut energy use by the equivalent of 11% of annual oil imports, the group says.”

As a telecommuter I can tell you that I’m driving far less than when I had a short seven mile commute to work. Given that average commutes in major metros are over 45 minutes each way or 40 miles a day, I can see how broadband makes a dent. Add in the huge savings as business travelers begin to use the really effective teleconferencing services that are starting to emerge and you’ll see big savings in both oil and emissions.

As gas prices rise, and public transport falls behind in its ability to serve increasing demand, alternative work arrangements will become the norm. I see things like temporary centrally-located office spaces being created for face to face meetings that are closer to home for all attendees. Hotels have served this purpose for years and will move even further into the business services sector. I live across the street from a hotel and it would be great if they provided a rental video conference suite for meetings. They may see it as a threat to their core business but it would be more than made up by selling us $7 a cup coffee and $12 croissants…

Imagine a plan that charges polluters and puts that money into our pockets. Peter Barnes of Working Assets did:

“The simplest and fairest way to protect the poor and middle class is to give equal rebates to everyone. The money would come from either a carbon tax, or an auction of carbon emission permits…. Just as every Alaska resident receives an equal dividend from revenue from state oil leases, so every American would get an equal dividend from carbon permit auctions. The dividends would be wired monthly into people’s bank accounts, much like Social Security payments. They’d help families pay their monthly bills.

There are several nice features of such a plan. One is that it’s automatic — as energy prices rise, so do dividends. Another is that how you fare depends on what you do. The more energy you use, the more you pay. Since everyone gets the same amount back, you gain if you conserve and lose if you guzzle. This is fair to everyone, whether rich or poor. And it takes politicians off the hook for rising energy prices. If voters complain, politicians can truthfully say, “The market sets prices, and you determine by your own energy use whether you gain or lose. If you conserve, you come out ahead.”

The NYTimes DotEarth blog has an interview detailing this provocative approach to carbon caps.

Sign me up.

“Experts say the sharp growth, if it continues, means several of the world’s most important suppliers may need to start importing oil within a decade to power all the new cars, houses and businesses they are buying and creating with their oil wealth.”

According to this NYTimes.com article,  the economies of oil rich countries are growing so fast that they are becoming their own fastest growing markets. This increases the squeeze on countries like the US as more and more global demand will keep the price of oil rising. If we’re in Peak Oil (using the last 50% of supplies) then this feedback loop will only speed up the rate at which we run out of fossil fuels. Given that our entire economy requires access to cheap fuel to operate, we’re in serious trouble. Yet our representatives in Bali this week are obfuscating and generally refusing to accept any kind of mandated carbon caps.