Planning IUCRC at University of Washington: Energy Information Nexus (EIN)

数据中心占美国所有电力消耗的2%，预计每年增长12%。云服务公司和机械/电气基础设施供应商必须不断适应这种不断增长的需求，同时满足可靠性、成本和可持续性目标。能源信息Nexus （EIN）联盟不是将能源和计算作为独立的问题来关注，而是支持新一代数据中心的开发，这些数据中心将电力生产和存储嵌入到数据中心本身。机架或吊舱级的现场供电具有许多战略优势，包括冗余和可靠性（无需备用电源）、高效率、改进的负载跟踪和供应管理，以及基于间歇性风能和太阳能产生的存储燃料的可再生能源的技术途径。EIN将与工业界和政府合作伙伴合作，探索在数据中心使用燃料电池、电池、超级电容器、直流电网和其他能源技术，并确定和克服关键过程和技术瓶颈。通过合作研究、工业论坛、教育倡议和公众宣传，EIN将推动数据中心工程成为分布式电力和能源存储的领先领域，并促进我国向能源可持续性过渡。能源信息纽带（EIN）将通过以下任务目标来实现这些目标：对数据中心能源架构的新方法进行技术经济分析和系统建模。EIN的定量案例研究将使成员能够预测技术和商业的方向，并更好地定位自己在这一领域的增长。开展竞争前研究，加速与数据中心相关的嵌入式能源技术的发展。EIN研究将集中在工业成员确定的技术之间的关键瓶颈或节点上的基本问题。培养学生对计算机和能源技术的广泛理解。EIN将弥合这些技术领域之间的鸿沟，并培养新一代工程师，他们了解两者的机会和限制。促进供应链标准的制定，得到行业参与者的广泛支持。EIN将帮助成员开发新的基础设施和供应链标准，以便供应链中的参与者分担风险并同步业务增长。EIN的工业和政府成员将跨越四个主要重叠的业务部门，包括最终用户、基础设施提供商、能源技术开发商和公用事业，以促进广泛的讨论，以实现联盟的使命。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Data centers represent 2% of all electricity consumption in the United States, with a projected growth rate of 12% per year. Cloud service companies and mechanical/electrical infrastructure suppliers must continuously adapt to satisfy this growing demand, while meeting reliability, cost, and sustainability targets. Rather than focusing on energy and computing as separate problems, the Energy Information Nexus (EIN) consortium supports development of a new generation of data centers that embed power production and storage into the data center itself. On-site power at the rack or pod level offers many strategic advantages, including redundancy and reliability (eliminating the need for backup power), high efficiency, improved load following and supply management, as well as technological pathways to renewable energy based on stored fuels derived from intermittent wind and solar power. EIN will collaborate with industry and government partners to explore the use of fuel cells, batteries, supercapacitors, DC power networks, and other energy technologies in data centers, and to identify and overcome key process and technology bottlenecks. Through collaborative research, industrial forums, educational initiatives, and public outreach, EIN will advance data center engineering as a leading arena for distributed power and energy storage, and facilitate our nation's transition toward energy sustainability. The Energy Information Nexus (EIN) will fulfill these goals through the following mission objectives: Conducting technoeconomic analyses and system modeling of new approaches to data center energy architecture. Quantitative case studies by EIN will allow members to forecast the directions of technology and business and to better position themselves for growth in this area. Performing pre-competitive research that accelerates development of embedded energy technology relevant to data centers. EIN research will focus on fundamental problems residing at key bottlenecks or junctures among technologies identified by industrial members. Interdisciplinary training of students to foster broad understanding of both computing and energy technology. EIN will bridge the divide between these technology arenas and create a new generation of engineers who understand the opportunities and constraints of both. Facilitating development of supply-chain standards with widespread support among industrial participants. EIN will help members develop new infrastructure and supply-chain standards such that participants in the supply chain share risk and synchronize businesses growth. Industrial and government membership of the EIN will span four principle overlapping business sectors including end users, infrastructure providers, energy technology developers, and utilities to facilitate a broad discussion to achieve the consortium's mission.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.