TechPulse 360

You’ve seen the latest IBM commercials on television. You know the ones. The narrator describes a difficult environmental problem and then says it is his or her job to solve it. Then she (or he) says she works for IBM.

Well, it seems as if IBM has a pair of new clean-tech jobs on the list. The company will announce on Wednesday that is has secured contracts with the Sacramento Area Sewer District and Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District to improve water quality and prevent sewer spills.

Time of day electricity pricing will offer consumers a financial incentive to shift consumption, says IBM exec Steve Mills

The two agencies will install its Maximo software to manage pumps, pipes and other equipment, and to anticipate failures before they occur.

Top IBM executive Steve Mills, a senior vice president, says the key to a smarter, greener planet is to improve the collection and analysis of data, such as that from a sewer system or electric grid. Doing so helps companies perform preventative maintenance and hike efficiency.

IBM is presently applying the principal to as many as 60 smart grid projects with utilities around the world, Mills says. Some focus on the consumer and the smart meters being installed in homes. Others reach out for data to the sensors utilities are installing throughout their grids and networks.

For many companies, the idea is to take what was once a capital expense and turn it into a technology purchase. Software that automates maintenance and manages equipment lets administrators better know where to spend their money. It is this application of technology that will help battle global warming and improve water quality.

In the past several years, this adoption of technology appears to have picked up, with a respite for the recession, replacing what were more manual tasks. But “it’s really going to take a decade,” Mills says. The incentive for companies will be millions in savings.

Mills says that despite the use technology, time of day pricing might be necessary to bring greater efficiency to energy use. Smart meters are a first step and so too are the sensor networks utilities are using to better understand consumption.

But when energy costs are higher – such as during the peak use day light hours – people will naturally shift use to other times when costs are lower. The idea is to provide a financial incentive, he says.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 3:53 pm and is filed under news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.