Unsustainable energy consumption poses a major threat to our
environment and if unchecked, could play out in a number of
disastrous scenarios, ranging from climate change to resource
shortages. Carbon-neutral, renewable energy sources provide one
long-term solution to this problem, but the effort required to
construct a clean, renewable power grid suggests that addressing
the supply-side of the issue alone is not a quick answer.
Managing demand is also necessary. Initial studies have found
significant opportunities for improving energy use by analyzing
and optimizing the energy required to run social networks. SI
professor and senior associate dean for faculty Thomas Finholt
and lecturer Eric Hofer have received a two-year, $299,982 grant
from the National Science Foundation to study the use of social
networks to help individuals reduce their energy footprint.
“EAGER: GreenSC: Characterizing and Modeling Energy Use in
Social Computing” will examine how different communication
technologies are used in social n