[Qgis-psc] Environmental policy

[Jonathan Moules]

Hi Tim,

I'd say it can be more pragmatic than just "optics" by showing 
leadership through example. Some of the original suggestions are things 
that can be implemented to actually achieve something by the project. 
For example, project supplied food as only vegan (or even just veggie); 
or the project only funding travel if it's sustainable if there's a 
sustainable options. Then if folks insist on steak and/or flying, 
there's nothing to stop them, they just have to fund it themselves/get 
their own lunch etc.

Low power mode - interesting idea, but would QGIS benefit from this? I 
suspect it's more complex than one/many CPUs. I.e. the GPU is usually 
much more power efficient than the CPU at some tasks; or doing stuff in 
parallel across many cores quickly can use less power than doing the 
same task consecutively on a single core (especially on a modern CPU 
like a Ryzen which will "Turbo" boost that single core in such cases). 
That said, from a user's perspective there does seem to be scope for 
optimisation.

Cheers,

Jonathan

On 2020-01-24 18:26, Tim Sutton wrote:
> Hi Matteo and friends
>
> For me this discussion is more about optics - as a project we are in a position to show leadership and raise awareness. We don’t need to force anyone to do anything and I think we all realise climate change (and even if you are a denialist, the principle of wise, sustainable resource use) needs urgent attention and we are in a position to set a good example. So if we can agree on the basics maybe we can come up with some practical, constructive ways to reduce our own footprint (as a project) and encourage others to reduce their environmental footprints.
>
> Maybe like we are striving to OGC certification, we can also consider getting adherence to something like ISO 14000 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_14000 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_14000>). Although I guess that doesn’t tick my ’simple’ box :-P
>
> I wonder if we can’t also consider ‘low power’ QGIS mode where we consume the minimum amount of energy on the device QGIS is deployed on? Maybe a nice fat ’Save the environment’ (runs QGIS on 1 cpu) ‘Kill the environment’ (runs on all cpus + GPU) toggle switch in the status bar would be a cool addition in 2020?
>
> Regards
>
> Tim
>
>> On 24 Jan 2020, at 10:15, Andreas Neumann <andreas at qgis.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Matteo,
>>
>> I agree with most of your comments, but have one reply for your comment on trains running on nuclear power:
>>
>> In countries, where you have synchronized time tables (most countries have them meanwhile), where the trains always leave shortly after the hour and half-hour, you need most energy when all the trains throughout Switzerland leave their stations (only hydro and gaz power stations can meet those short-term peak - nuclear plants can only generate bandwidth energy, no peak energies). Once the trains are rolling, energy demand is a lot lower. For such situations, nuclear with constant energy production is not very useful. In Switzerland, the train system has an extensive network of hydropower stations (Pumpspeicherkraftwerke) where they can open the gates to exactly meet the peak energy demands according the train schedules every day. For this reason, trains typically run on hydro or gaz power. Also, when trains slow down or run down a slope, they contribute a significant amount of energy back in to the train grid system, something most cars (apart from hybrid/electric/plugin hybrid) still don't do, let alone planes ...
>>
>> Greetings,
>> Andreas
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, 24 Jan 2020 at 09:03, matteo <matteo.ghetta at gmail.com <mailto:matteo.ghetta at gmail.com>> wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> let me also share my thoughts here, veeeeery quickly.
>>
>> As an environmental scientist I pay a lot of attention to all my daily
>> actions, but without being paranoiac.
>>
>> I trust that we are smart people and if we want to have an environmental
>> policy, I'd like to have a kind of "these are our suggestions, please
>> try to follow them". But not force people.
>>
>> If I have to travel 16 hours by train to travel to an HF for 2 days and
>> traveling back other 16 hours (spending €€€) than it is very likely that
>> we will loose people to come. I know that I can work on train, but
>> sometimes I have to be in a certain place to work (e.g. training).
>>
>> By the other [provocation]: is really a train powered by nuclear power
>> plants more environmental friendly than a flight?
>>
>> To conclude. I'm very happy when I'm able to attend an HF (and drink
>> some beers with all of you), so we can think to lower to just one longer
>> HF per year (ass already suggested).
>>
>> Just my 2 cents
>>
>> See you soon ;)
>>
>> Matteo
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> Tim Sutton
> tim at qgis.org
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