In the week that AMD hosted an industry round-table in conjunction with the Department of Energy (DoE) at its Sunnyvale headquarters, the US Senate passed a bill that proclaims it is in best interest of the US for purchasers of computer servers to give high priority to energy efficiency as a factor in determining best value and performance for purchases of computer servers.'
Senators unanimously pushed through the legislation that asks the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study the energy consumption of data centers. The EPA has been instructed to bone up on items such as low-power chips, power supplies and energy distribution. It will also consider how incentives could be used to promote power-efficient data centers in the government and private sectors.
Michigan Republican Rep. Mike Rogers has sponsored the bill which is identical to that passed by the House of Representatives in July 2006.