Green Energy is produced from renewable sources, while Green Computing refers to the study and practice of environmentally sustainable computing. The goal of green computing, therefore, consists in maximizing energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy.

Modern IT systems rely upon a complicated mix of people, networks, and hardware; as such, green computing must cover all of these areas. Cloud computing and large data centres have a severe impact on the worldwide energy demand accounting for about 1% of the world's total energy use in 2018, and thus are a primary focus for proponents of green computing. Data transmission networks account for a similar share. This calls for integrating renewable power sources in order to progress towards carbon-free cloud and networking infrastructures. Energy-efficient data centre design should address all of the energy use aspects included in a data centre: from the IT equipment to the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) equipment. The efficiency of algorithms and protocols affects the number of computer resources required for any given computation or communication function and there are many efficiency trade-offs in writing software programs.

This meeting of green computing with green energy poses special challenges: green energy from solar and wind fluctuates and can be intermittent. Novel mechanisms to shift processing to times when green energy is available or other locations that have a current abundance of green energy are important. This particular form of demand-response applications in large-scale data centres can also bolster the stability and efficiency of power grids, which becomes increasingly challenging and important with the prevalence of distributed renewable generation. This summer school will cover a comprehensive collection of theoretical and practical aspects at the intersection of energy-efficient computing and renewable energy, including their reciprocal impacts and benefits.