Categoria: Energia

Author: Schneider Electric

This audio was created using Microsoft Azure Speech Services

A critical success factor in a data center strategy is proper planning. Data center decisions shouldn’t be reactive but thoughtful of the longer-term implications for the business. Deciding whether to place data center workloads in the cloud, on-premise, or at the edge requires an assessment of needs, space utilization, and other factors such as deployment speed, infrastructure, and cybersecurity. Companies have become better at making these decisions, thanks to lessons learned in recent years.

It’s one of the topics that I discussed with Thomas Humphrey, North American Business Development Manager for Schneider Electric Modular Data Centers, and Todd Boucher, Founder of Leading Edge Design Group. If you’re curious, check out Part 1, which delves into why the public cloud might not always deliver the expected results and reveals how market trends have shifted strategies.

This blog post covers Part 2 of the series, which discusses what factors should be considered in reviewing a cloud vs on-premise strategy.  

Joe: What drives organizations to keep compute on premise or move it to the cloud?

Thomas: In data center planning, organizations have to identify their primary business goal by looking at data center capacity, speed of deployment, cost structure, and infrastructure. If there’s free space to use, it could be leveraged for a data center. If they don’t have the space, then how quickly do they need the additional capacity? This is where speed of deployment comes into play. Do you build the data center or use the cloud? There are questions about CapEx vs. OpEx. How do you control costs over time? Also, do you have to beef up infrastructure with fiber routes, for instance? What about cybersecurity? It comes down to assessing the business processes and picking the best solution.

Todd: With on-premise production environments, oversizing has been an issue. Compute capacity isn’t fully utilized. Virtualization helped but only partially solved the issue. Then, the cloud emerged as a way to right-size the environment. But you also have to oversize environments in the cloud for scalability. Some customers tried to move whole production environments to the cloud, leading to cost overruns. And these are the types of things you need to take into consideration.

Joe: Is right-sizing still a challenge, and how do you solve it?

Todd: Forecasting capacity is always challenging, especially given how dynamic business is today. Modularity helps address this with prefabricated data centers that you can quickly deploy where needed. Now, owners can make more thoughtful decisions: “I know I will need an asset here. What should I do with it? What should that asset be? What do I already own? What’s its lifecycle?” If customers have too much infrastructure, they realize they can downsize, become more agile, and become more modular. 

Joe: As customers repatriate some assets, what lessons have they learned from their cloud experience?

Todd: When something is transformational – like the cloud becoming commercially available – the pressure on IT is to deliver more services and more resiliency. But there were a lot of unknowns. When you have a new technology, you don’t know what the experience will be like. And one organization’s experience is different than another’s, even in the same industry. You have varying resources, different business cultures, and unique drivers for the technology. It’s not a homogeneous adoption strategy, and that’s why these lessons are so important.

Thomas: There’s also a huge variability in how companies perceive their IT. For some, like e-commerce providers, it’s core to their business; it is their lifeblood. They rely on it 100%. Other companies see it as a support function for their core business. So, you have different schools of thought. An automaker will move slower to adopt technology than a highly transactional, web-based company. This is where factors like speed of deployment and data center space availability come into play. And they’re better understood now after the initial cloud experience.

 Joe: What impact do hybrid environments that combine on-premise assets with cloud and SaaS applications have on Chief Information Officers (CIOs)?

Todd: The CIO has to work with other business leaders to determine how an application can support and scale with the business. An IT organization has to be really responsive to business capacity needs, which are difficult to forecast. Having competency and workloads in both on-premise and cloud is what makes the organization responsive. They can make quick choices about where to put resources, where to develop and test applications, and then deploy them in the right environment.

Joe: How important is the role of modularity, especially at the edge?

Thomas: When you talk about modularity and scalability, in order to be agile, you have to consider the edge. Some data must be processed close to the source, and some can be pushed to the cloud for higher-level analytics. Modularity delivered by prefab data centers helps bring it all together. You plug in the prefab data center and get increments of multimegawatts of power as you scale. It sits at the edge, providing compute where data centers typically weren’t deployed.

Stay tuned for Part 3

In Part 3 of the blog series of cloud vs. on-premise, we will wrap up the discussion by reviewing specific solution options and weaving them into the business challenges. We will address questions such as: How does an edge computing solution fit into current IT infrastructure? How should sustainability be addressed? What business justifications or use cases do we need to focus on? and more.

In the meantime, visit our website to access additional data center planning resources.

Tags: Cloud, data center capacity, Data Center Planning, modular data center, on-premise data center

Author: Rinnovabili.it

Foto di David Clode su Unsplash

Il 22 marzo si celebra la Giornata mondiale dell’acqua 2024 (World Water Day)

(Rinnovabili.it) – L’acqua può portare pace o innescare conflitti. Risorsa da condividere, spesso segna i confini tra stati, regioni e comunità ma molto più spesso li attraversa. Risorsa sempre più scarsa tra prelievi eccessivi e impatto della crisi climatica. Criticità per cui c’è una sola risposta capace di stemperare le tensioni ed evitare guerre: cooperare. È questo il tema al centro della Giornata mondiale dell’acqua 2024 (World Water Day 2024), che si celebra ogni 22 marzo fin dalla sua istituzione nel 1993 da parte delle Nazioni Unite.

Acqua per la pace, il tema del World Water Day 2024

Immaginate di dover affrontare una situazione di conflitto, su scala locale o una guerra conclamata vera e propria. Per risolverla bisogna capire le ragioni che l’hanno scatenata, un intreccio complesso di fattori che non è mai lineare e quindi semplice ricostruire. Potreste immaginare questo conflitto come situato alla foce di un fiume, che ha un corso principale, e iniziare a risalirlo. Per scoprire da dove arriva l’acqua dovreste poi percorrere le diramazioni che incontrate, risalire gli affluenti (le ragioni delle parti), attraversare ambienti ed ecosistemi molto diversi tra loro (le loro condizioni, bisogni, ambizioni).

Cooperare, in questa analogia tra acqua e pace, significa fare il percorso inverso, dalle fonti alla foce. Tenere conto di tutte le parti in causa e trovare un modo per convivere in modo equo e sostenibile. “La cooperazione pacifica sull’acqua può sfociare in una cooperazione pacifica in tutti i settori”, ricorda l’ONU nella Giornata mondiale dell’acqua 2024. Sottolineando che di cooperazione, oggi, ce n’è molto poca. “Più di 3 miliardi di persone nel mondo dipendono dall’acqua che attraversa i confini nazionali. Tuttavia, su 153 paesi che condividono fiumi, laghi e falde acquifere con i loro vicini, solo 24 paesi riferiscono di avere accordi di cooperazione per tutte le risorse idriche condivise”.

Acqua e conflitti

L’acqua gioca spesso un ruolo importante durante i conflitti, ricorda l’ONU. Può diventare un fattore scatenante quando gli interessi di chi accede alla stessa risorsa idrica non convergono e sono percepiti come inconciliabili. Oppure quando la quantità di acqua a disposizione diminuisce, come sta avvenendo in molte parti del mondo a causa della crisi climatica.

Non dobbiamo pensare solo alle “water wars”, le guerre per l’acqua che secondo l’UNESCO sono state 263 in tutto il mondo solo tra 2010 e 2018. La scarsità idrica agisce sulla conflittualità latente, si insinua nei rapporti economici e di potere e scuote i patti sociali.

Succede in Cile, ad esempio, dove i favori concessi dai governi all’industria mineraria del litio e del rame permettono al settore di accaparrarsi il 90% dell’acqua dolce del paese, lasciando a rischio l’agricoltura e facendo spesso mancare l’acqua potabile in città. Ma è un tema che riguarda anche situazioni ben più vicine a noi. In Francia il piano di creare una miriade di bacini artificiali a beneficio dell’agricoltura intensiva, prelevando l’acqua di falda, ha alimentato movimenti di protesta come quello dei Soulèvements de la Terre, che il governo francese ha provato (senza successo, per ora) a bollare come “estremista”, metterlo fuorilegge e scioglierlo. Tensioni che poggiano su idee diverse di modello economico futuro, strategie per la transizione ecologica, giustizia sociale.

Ma l’acqua, sottolinea ancora l’ONU, può essere usata come arma durante i conflitti armati. Un mezzo per ottenere o mantenere il controllo sul territorio e sulle popolazioni o come mezzo per mettere pressioni agli avversari. Molto più spesso, l’acqua è una vittima eccellente delle guerre. Ce lo ha ricordato la distruzione della diga di Khakovkha, in Ucraina, da parte delle forze armate russe l’anno scorso, che ha creato gravi rischi per la salute e devastato alcuni degli ecosistemi più preziosi d’Europa.

Acqua e clima che cambia

Conflitti su cui incide l’accelerazione in corso della crisi climatica. L’aumento della temperatura globale e lo squilibrio del sistema climatico del Pianeta stanno già avendo impatti profondi in tutto il mondo, e ne avranno di più intensi in futuro.

Un anno fa, il rapporto della UN Water Commission sul ciclo globale dell’acqua e la gestione della risorsa idrica spiegava che, entro il 2030, la domanda di acqua dolce sarà superiore del 40% all’offerta per l’effetto combinato della pressione antropica su clima, acqua ed ecosistemi. Sempre di pochi mesi fa è il punto dell’Organizzazione Meteorologica Mondiale (OMM) sullo stato di salute del ciclo globale dell’acqua. Secondo l’agenzia è “fuori controllo”, con eventi estremi legati all’acqua che dominano i disastri climatici, mentre la criosfera è sotto forte pressione e metà dei fiumi globali ha anomalie marcate nella portata.

D’altronde, quello della disponibilità di acqua dolce è uno degli indicatori chiave per il quale abbiamo già superato i limiti del Pianeta, cioè la soglia oltre la quale la Terra non riesce a ripristinare le risorse che consumiamo. Uno studio recente ha calcolato che questo limite è stato oltrepassato già negli anni ’50 e da allora viviamo sostanzialmente a debito. Mentre un’altra ricerca ha stabilito che i consumi umani di acqua hanno cambiato persino l’inclinazione dell’asse terrestre. Lo studio apparso su Geophysical Research Letters calcola che, tra 1992 e 2010, i prelievi idrici e la conseguente redistribuzione della massa terrestre hanno spostato l’asse di rotazione del Pianeta di quasi 80 cm. Con un impatto (negativo) anche sull’incremento del livello dei mari.

Secondo l’ultimo rapporto dell’IPCC, rilasciato nel 2022, la scarsità idrica dovrebbe colpire 3 miliardi di persone con una temperatura globale di 2°C e 4 mld se arriviamo a 4 gradi. Entro il 2100, 1/3 dei ghiacciai rilascerà il 10% di acqua in meno, soprattutto in Asia Centrale e nelle Ande, togliendo disponibilità di acqua a 1,5 miliardi di persone. Il riscaldamento globale colpirà in modo potente il bacino mediterraneo, Italia inclusa: il rapporto stabilisce che le siccità abbastanza intense e durature da danneggiare l’agricoltura in modo significativo raddoppieranno già a 1,5°C, mentre sono previste riduzioni del potenziale idroelettrico fino al 40% con un riscaldamento di 3°C, del 10% con 2°C e del 5% con 1,5°C.

La Giornata mondiale dell’acqua 2024 vista dall’Italia

A febbraio la regione Sicilia ha dichiarato lo stato di calamità naturale vista la gravissima carenza di acqua. L’isola fa parte dell’1% di territorio UE che, secondo l’osservatorio europeo sulla siccità, si trova al massimo livello di allerta. La seconda metà del 2023 è stato il periodo più secco da 100 anni a questa parte. Una situazione, anche se non così grave, che tocca anche gran parte del resto d’Italia.

Le piogge delle ultime settimane hanno dato un po’ di ristoro ma l’indice SPI a lungo termine – riferimento per l’umidità del suolo negli strati non superficiali e quindi più appropriato per valutare lo stato di siccità – non è buono per il Belpaese, già provato da un triennio 2021-23 terribile. Solo nell’estate 2022 l’agricoltura ha patito 6 miliardi di danni e un calo del 10% della produzione nazionale, mentre la portata dei fiumi sotto i minimi storici ha ridotto la generazione idroelettrica di 1/3, da 48 a 30 TWh, calo che rappresentato il 25% della riduzione totale europea.

Nella Giornata mondiale dell’acqua è doveroso ripercorrere la risposta che le istituzioni stanno dando al problema su scala nazionale. Il decreto Siccità di aprile 2023 doveva iniziare a mettere le pezze ai problemi strutturali della scarsità d’acqua in Italia e alle emergenze. Ma dalla prima relazione della cabina di regia creata dal dl e presentata il 19 marzo emerge un buco enorme: a fronte di 562 opere ammesse per un fabbisogno totale di 13,5 miliardi sono disponibili appena 102 milioni di euro. Un rapporto di valutazione di Bain & Company stima che il bilancio idrico complessivo italiano si ridurrà entro il 2050 di 12 miliardi di metri cubi, pari al 34% degli attuali consumi nazionali, con un costo della mancanza di risposte adeguate pari a 40 miliardi di euro l’anno. Per far fronte al crescente deficit idrico sarebbe necessario un incremento di investimenti pari a circa 60 miliardi di euro.

Tutto questo mentre la rete idrica nazionale continua a registrare perdite intorno al 42% – acqua che non arriva al rubinetto di casa per dispersioni in fase di distribuzione. “Nella sfida dell’adattamento bisogna guardare alla corretta gestione della risorsa idrica: dobbiamo mettere ordine al sistema attraverso il Servizio Idrico Integrato, riducendo il numero dei gestori dai quasi tremila a un numero più ragionevole, che abbiano forza finanziaria, ma anche conoscenze e struttura per programmare, valorizzando poi le ‘best practice’”, ha indicato il ministro dell’Ambiente e la Sicurezza Energetica Gilberto Pichetto poche settimane fa, ricordando l’importanza della mappatura delle azioni possibili effettuata tramite il Piano nazionale di adattamento al cambiamento climatico (PNACC).  

Author: Schneider Electric

This audio was created using Microsoft Azure Speech Services

 Electricity powers our daily lives, allowing us to light our homes, run our appliances, and charge our devices. While we enjoy the convenience and comfort brought by electricity, it can be hazardous if not handled properly and cause serious injury. Therefore, it is crucial to take the necessary measures to ensure your safety and the safety of your loved ones. Issues like flickering lights and faulty switches might seem common, but they may also be symptoms of a serious electrical fault.

Electrical faults can occur for various reasons, such as overloaded circuits, damaged wiring, or faulty appliances. They can also be caused by external factors, such as lightning strikes or power surges. Electrical issues have been identified as the main cause of fires in places such as India, where fires caused by electrical accidents took up 20% of cases in 2020. By being proactive and seeking professional advice and safety equipment, we can ensure our homes remain a safe and comfortable place for us and our families.

Let’s share some insight into electrical faults, how they may occur, and how we can help keep our homes safe and have peace of mind.

Short Circuit

A short circuit is a common electrical malfunction that occurs when a live wire carrying electricity comes in contact with a neutral wire. It can be caused by various factors, including damaged outlets, loose connections, pests chewing through wires, water coming into contact with wiring, deterioration of electrical cable sheathing, or poor maintenance. When a short circuit occurs, the flow of electricity is disrupted, and a large amount of current is generated, leading to excessive heating. This can cause a fire or explosion if not addressed promptly.

Overload

When an excessive amount of electrical current flows through a circuit, it can cause the wires to overheat, melt the insulation, and even start a fire. Signs of an overloaded circuit may include flickering or dimming lights, buzzing outlets or switches, warm or hot outlet covers, burning odors, scorched plugs or outlets, and malfunctioning appliances or electronics. It’s important to take immediate action if you notice any of these signs, such as unplugging appliances and electronics, and contact a licensed electrician to diagnose and address any issues with your electrical system.

Leakage current

A leakage current occurs when an unintentional electrical connection between an energized component – or conductor – and the ground. An example is when a person comes in contact with a live conductor while standing on the ground; the current can flow from the live conductor to the ground through that person’s body, resulting in an electrical shock. This can be extremely dangerous and even fatal in some cases.

Electrical devices such as washing machines, water heaters and refrigerators can experience earth leakage due to insulation damage, wetness, or incorrect grounding. This can damage the device and pose a risk to users. Proper grounding and avoiding contact with live conductors can help prevent leakage currents. Regular maintenance and inspections can detect and resolve issues before they become problematic.

Electrical Surges

Electrical or power surges occur when there is an abrupt interruption in the flow of electricity, followed by a sudden restart. These surges can be caused by several factors, including lightning strikes, power outages, or even when large appliances, such as air conditioners or refrigerators, turn on or off.

Lightning strikes can cause massive power surges that damage electronic devices connected to the grid. Power outages can also result in power surges when the power supply is restored.

During a power grid failure, there may be a sudden surge of electricity when the power is reconnected, which can damage any devices that were not previously turned off.

Under Voltage/Over Voltage

Voltage surges can be caused by switching impulses, which can lead to undervoltage or overvoltage. Undervoltage occurs when the voltage level of the system falls below a certain threshold, which can cause a decline in equipment performance and reliability. This can be especially problematic for sensitive equipment such as computers and other electronics.

Overvoltage occurs when there is a sudden increase in voltage, which can be caused by things such as strong motors, welding equipment, or large electrical appliances. If left unprotected, this can permanently damage electrical appliances. Both undervoltage and overvoltage can cause the appliance to malfunction or shorten its service life.

It’s important to note that voltage surges can be unpredictable and happen anytime.

Arc fault/flash

Arc faults or flashes are electrical faults that occur when there are loose connections or compromised distances between energized parts. These issues can lead to an arcing fault that generates intense heat. This heat can cause burning particles to ignite surrounding materials, resulting in injuries and even fatalities in severe cases. Arc faults can occur for several reasons, including human error or carelessness during installation or maintenance, substandard or faulty parts use, and condensation or other liquids near electrical equipment. It is important to be aware of these potential causes of arc faults to prevent them from occurring and to ensure the safety of individuals who work with or around electrical equipment.

Keep our homes safe

When there is any doubt about the risk involved, do seek professional advice on electrical safety On top of Miniature Circuit Breakers (MCBs), there is a need to have innovative protective devices to make your home and family even safer, such as Surge Protection Devices (SPDs), Residual Current Circuit Breakers (RCCBs), Under voltage (UV) and Overvoltage (OV) Protection, and Arc Fault Detection Devices (AFDDs), While MCBs protect against short circuit & overload, SPDs protect against power surges, and RCCBs protect from leakage currents. UV and OV Protection shields against under and overvoltage, and AFDDs detect & protect against electrical arcs which may lead to fire.

Our teams at Schneider Electric foster a safety-conscious culture and empower users with reliable and safe technology. Our top priority is ensuring you can use our products with peace of mind and without stress. To fulfill our commitment, we are dedicated to promoting safety awareness and providing high-quality products that enable safe and hassle-free use of technology and safe electricity for all. We’re here to help all of us stay secure and protected.

Tags: access to electricity, Digital transformation, electrical safety, electricalfaults, electricityathome, Energy Efficiency

Author: Schneider Electric

This audio was created using Microsoft Azure Speech Services

Just as fitness trackers can help us look after our personal health, AI-driven analytics make it possible for businesses to manage their electrical assets more efficiently.

AI is transforming the world in many ways – including how we manage our health. In the traditional model for healthcare, regular expert consultations play a central role. We visit a doctor, perhaps on an annual basis, for a check-up where they assess our health based on measurements like blood tests and scans.

Following this, the doctor might conclude that everything’s in good order, with no specific actions needed. Alternatively, they could recommend further measures – whether that’s more diagnostics, surgery, medication or adopting healthier habits. After a set period, we’d visit again for another review.

The growing popularity of health and fitness trackers – including smart watches, rings, and other devices – changes the dynamics of this process. They mean that at any time, the wearer can quickly get an accurate reading of metrics such as their heart rate or daily steps. Information gathered by the devices can also be used to create accurate models – like whether we’re awake or asleep, our general cardiovascular health, or what kind of activity we’re doing. We can supplement this rich resource by adding our own information – for example, about what we eat or drink. And all of this can be analysed further, using statistical modelling and AI-based algorithms.

Together, these capacities for monitoring and analytics allow us to begin managing our health in a very different way. In contrast to annual doctor visits, wearable devices can provide daily personalized recommendations, based on our individual context, to encourage healthy behaviour and improve our quality of life. In doing so, they pave the way for us to make more effective use of doctors’ expertise. A fitness tracker could, for example, offer an early indication of a potential problem, prompting someone to schedule an appointment more urgently. Or it might encourage them to make lifestyle changes that reduce the need for serious medical intervention.

How Schneider Electric is using AI

At Schneider Electric, data and AI are helping us improve our services in a similar way. Our customers rely on electricity to run essential assets such as factories, transport services and offices. This is provided via complex power systems involving many different electrical components. And keeping these in good condition is critical to organizations’ performance and reputation.

Until recently, these businesses have relied on routine maintenance inspections to help them look after their power systems – allowing them to identify where repairs are needed and spot potential risks. To support this process, in many cases we’ve also installed sensors on electrical equipment. Depending on the sensors used, these can collect a wide variety of data, whether that’s environmental (including temperature, humidity, and gases) operational (such as when circuits open and close, or the current switches) or electrical

(voltage and current levels, for example). Whatever is being measured, the system can generate alerts when the readings aren’t what they should be.

Sensors installed on electrical equipment.

These approaches provide a solid basis for identifying concerns and reducing the likelihood of disruptive power failures. But they are always one step behind, reacting to issues instead of anticipating them. So, in recent years, we’ve been developing a different way of working: connecting our sensors to the cloud and developing AI-based algorithms to analyse the continuous data they provide.

Our experience in manufacturing electrical equipment gives us a deep understanding of how different components function, and the issues that can affect them. Over the past decade, we’ve drawn on this expertise to develop sophisticated ways of modelling the condition of these parts. We can now provide accurate insights on the health of our customers’ power systems through these analytics, reducing the need for manual inspections. Our AI-powered digital services, such as EcoCare*, continuously refine their assessments based on real-world data from sensors. And they distil the findings into index readings that can be understood immediately.

Schneider Electric AI-powered Service Agent

In this way, Schneider’s predictive analytics act as a fitness tracker for our customers’ power systems – an early warning system to help them detect emerging issues and take targeted action to address them before they become severe. They allow businesses to move on from playing catch-up and keep their equipment in consistent good health.

Unpredictable future

Over the past decade, AI has helped our customers transform the way they monitor and maintain their electrical assets. As Schneider’s chief AI officer Philippe Rambach explained on a recent podcast, implementing AI-powered services means businesses are likely to experience fewer faults, extended equipment lifetime, lower maintenance costs and reduced risks for staff. As with the new dimension that fitness trackers bring to healthcare, it’s not just about having more data. It’s about different data and deeper insights – and above all, converting those insights proactively into more efficient ways of managing and maintaining power systems.

The importance of AI will grow in the coming decades as new challenges emerge. As the world moves towards net zero, we will all increasingly depend on electricity. But switching to renewable sources will make its supply more complex and intermittent. Meanwhile, growing demand and more extreme weather will put further stress on power networks. In this context, AI will be a “key enabler” in helping customers optimize their energy use and increase their sustainability.

The ongoing provision of data in near real-time from our digitized power systems means we can always be on the lookout for new anomalies and changes, ready to respond quickly as this unpredictable future unfolds. And as our technology develops, so will its uses. We’re currently exploring the opportunities that generative AI brings, for example, to develop exciting new services.

Of course, wearing a smart watch doesn’t mean we will never need a doctor. Doctors offer unique capacities – the ability to carry out a physical examination, take an X-ray or just listen – which a wearable device can’t. The fitness tracker is a tool to help both the doctor and the patient manage health more effectively. With our AI-driven services, it’s the same: the technology makes it possible for everyone to perform at their very best.

*Please verify the availability of EcoCare in your region through a local services sales representative. If EcoCare is not yet available, you can start leveraging EcoStruxure Service Plan.

Tags: AI, digital services, EcoCare, Maintenance, Remote Monitoring, Services Plan