With companies becoming increasingly aware of the potential cost savings and environmental benefits of green tech, some are mulling some big questions. Among them, which is the most efficient way to cool the datacenter, with air or liquid? Is DC power a viable alternative to AC? And can thin clients replace thick clients on the desktop? If any (or all) of these questions pique your interest, consider tuning in t With companies becoming increasingly aware of the potential cost savings and environmental benefits of green tech, some are mulling some big questions. Among them, which is the most efficient way to cool the datacenter, with air or liquid? Is DC power a viable alternative to AC? And can thin clients replace thick clients on the desktop?If any (or all) of these questions pique your interest, consider tuning in to the live Websteam of Intel’s Eco-Technology Great Debates this Wednesday, June 11. If you happen to be in the Santa Clara, Calif. area that day — perhaps in town for Tuesday’s IDC Green IT Forum West — you could also register to attend the debates live at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara. (For the sake of disclosure, I’m moderating one of the debates.) The program will run from 1:00 to 5:00 Pacific; the first debate on AC vs. DC Power starts at 1:45, following a keynote by Andrew Fanara, product development team leader for the EPA’s Energy Star program. IDC. Participants — from APC, Heery, Microsoft, Direct Power, Intel, and the Lawrence Berkeley Lab — will discuss questions such as: Which power architecture is best, how efficient are they really, how safe they are by comparison, and how their TCOs compare. IDC Analyst Matthew Eastwood will moderate the debate. The 2:00 debate, Liquid vs. Air Cooling, will have participants compare the two approaches to chilling machines, touching on points such as reliability and cost. The teams for this session will comprise reps from Emerson, IBM, Rumsey Engineers, ANCIS, Intel, and Syska. The moderator will be IDC Analyst Vernon Turner.At 3:00, the Thick vs. Thin Clients debate will commence. The two sides will make their case for the energy-efficiency benefits of thin and thick clients — as well as other traits that might sway an organization to one technology or the other — or a combination thereof. Reps from Sun, Verari, and Intel will serve as the debaters. This is the session I’ll be moderating. To register to attend the debates live, go to this site. To view the streaming Webcast of the debates, go here. Technology Industry