Clean Energy Technology in the 2022 Winter Olympics

Beijing Winter Olympics cloud data center launched

China.org.cn, June 13, 2018

Recently, the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee (BWOOC) and Alibaba Cloud unveiled the Beijing Winter Olympics Cloud Data Center in Zhangbei county, Hebei province. The digital communication and broadcasting of the 2022 Winter Games will rely on cloud computing technology empowered by clean energy such as wind energy and solar energy, in an effort to make a green and low-carbon Olympics “on the cloud,” according to reports.

The data center is situated in the Bashang area of Zhangbei county, a place with high wind velocity and abundant sunlight. The data center will make the best use of local clean energy resources to achieve natural cooling. With the help of wind and solar energy, the data center will resort to traditional cooling model only 15 days a year, thus reducing energy consumption by 59 percent and becoming China’s first project to present a Power Usage Effectiveness less than 1.2.

Xu Jicheng, deputy director of the BWOOC Press and Publicity Department, said, “Inspired by the Olympic Motto of ‘Higher, Faster, Stronger,’ we hope to present to athletes and audiences from all over the world a Winter Olympic feast on the cloud.” Based on the cloud data center, the technical supporter Alibaba Cloud will create a comprehensive range of innovative technologies for the Beijing Winter Olympics. The platform will introduce into the traditional sports event latest technologies such as computer vision, machine learning, Internet of Things and big data, promoting the digital upgrade of the Olympic Games regarding its operation, experience, sports events, and communication.

Since the 1980s, environmental protection has been a major concern for the host cities of the Olympic Games, especially the impact of the preparatory work on the sustainable development of the cities after the Games. Placing the Olympics “on the cloud” will facilitate the sharing of resources, and help connect millions of servers all over the world to one super computer, thus providing powerful computing abilities, avoiding heavy asset investment in IT infrastructure, and contributing to a green Olympic Games, reports said.

 

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