While green computing is a bit old hat at this point, what about green supercomputing?

IBM (News - Alert), that traditional bastion of supercomputing, has something to crow about. A new IBM prototype 20-Petaflop supercomputer called “Blue Gene/Q has been chosen for the No. 1 spot – meaning it's the most efficient supercomputer in the world – on the latest Supercomputing “Green500 List” announced by Green500.org.

In fact, six of the top 10 most energy efficient supercomputers in the world are built on IBM high-performance computing technology, according to the Green500List, which also contains contenders from China and Germany as well as the U.S.

Supercomputers are traditionally designed and used for applications that require a great deal of processing power, such as astronomy and cosmology, climate prediction and life sciences. IBM produces more than half of the top supercomputers on the list.

When IBM Blue Gene/Q is ready to roll in 2012, it will already have some takers, including the Argonne National Laboratory (the U.S. Department of Energy's lab) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Both labs collaborated closely with IBM on the design of Blue Gene, influencing many aspects of the system's software and hardware.

In addition, both Columbia University and the University of Edinburgh contributed to Blue Gene/Q's processor chip design. Both institutions reportedly plan to use the system to advance quantum chromodynamics (QCD), which is a part of the study of particle physics.

So what makes an energy-efficient supercomputer? Energy efficiency, of course, including performance per watt, for the most computationally demanding workloads are where the “green” aspect comes in. By deploying the most energy-efficient supercomputers possible, IBM clients can see cost savings by lowering power consumption, reducing expenses associated with cooling and scaling to larger systems while maintaining an acceptable power consumption bill.

To view the most recent Green500 List, visit http://www.green500.org/lists.php#top.