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Getting to a fossil free internet by 2030

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Getting to a fossil free internet by 2030
FOSDEM 2023

Over the last few years, the idea of a carbon aware, fossil free internet by 2030, has become more than just interesting idea, and instead something that is socially and economically plausible, as well as desirable and inline with the latest climate science.

In this talk we’ll cover some of the key drivers to make this possible, and what key policy changes can accelerate our transition from fossil fuels in the technology sector.

We’ll cover some of the most promising ideas from the Internet Architecture Board’s recent workshops to explore how to reduce global ICT emissions inline with the science around staying within 1.5 degrees of warming. We'll give an overview of how new open source software like Ecovisors can do for on-site power what hypervisors have done for virtualisation of computing, how carbon-aware Computing schedulers and carbon aware networking routers can lead to an internet that can complement a shift to a grid powered by more variable renewable sources of energy, and we will also cover how a shift to hourly carbon accounting for electricity with new standards like Energy Tag’s Granular Certificates can cut through existing greenwash.

Finally we'll talk about some of the the regulatory drivers on the horizon can help technologists argue for more ambitious climate action, from the European Corporate Social Responsibility Directive to recent changes in international accounting standards from the IFRS (international financial reporting standards) Foundation.

Participants will leave with a good grounding of the progress made in the Greening of IT, the challenges facing us for the rest of the decade, and better idea of their role in the coming energy transition, particularly in the tech sector.

Speakers: Chris Adams