Green IT : An Overview

Green IT : An Overview
• Introduction
• Environmental Concerns and sustainable
Development
• Environmental Impact of IT
• Green IT
• Holistic Approach to Green IT
 2.1 Introduction
•
 2.2 Environmental Concerns and
Sustainable Development
•Scientific studies and reports offer evidence of
climate change and its potential harmful effects.
•Especially growing accumulation of GHGs is
changing the world’s climate and weather
patterns.
•Pushing global temperature slowly higher, posing
serious worldwide problems.
•Global data shows that storms, droughts and
other weather-related disasters are growing more
severe and frequent.
 2.2 Environmental Concerns and
Sustainable Development
•Global warming is an average increase in the
temperature of the atmosphere near the Earth’s
surface --- which contribute to changes in global
climate patterns.
•Global warming can occur from a variety of
causes, both natural and human induced.
•Global Warming often refers to warming that can
occur due to increased GHG emissions from
human activities which trap heat that would
otherwise escape from the Earth.
 2.2 Environmental Concerns and
Sustainable Development
•The most significant constituents of GHG are-
•CO2
•Methane
•Nitrous oxide
•Chlorofluorocarbon [ CFC ]
•Electricity is a major source of GHGs, as it is generated by burning
coal or oil, which releases CO2 into the atmosphere.
•Reducing electric power consumption is a key to reducing CO2 emissions
and their impacts on our environment and global warming.
•The 1997 KYOTO Protocol mandates reducing carbon emissions.
•This Protocol requires computer manufacturers to undertake energy audits
to calculate the electricity used by devices over their lifetime and determine
the quantum of CO2 emissions to take remedial action.
•In order to stop accumulation of GHGs in the atmosphere, global emissions
would have to stop growing and be reduced by an astonishing 60% from
today’s levels by 2050.
 2.2 Environmental Concerns and
Sustainable Development
•The Inconvenient Truth
•Climate change presents a new kind of risk: Its
impact is global and long term, and the damage it
causes is essentially irreversible.
•An Inconvenient Truth – Al Gore .. Oscar winning
•Not everyone agrees, controversies
•But due to disastrous impact, people stated
thinking seriously about global warming.
•What can, and should IT do in creating a greener,
sustainable environmnet?
 2.2 Environmental Concerns and
Sustainable Development
•Sustainable Development –
•Sustainability is all about meeting needs and seeking a
balance between people, the environment and
economy.
•Sustainable development is the ‘development that
meets the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs’. – UN Global commission on Environment and
Development 1987.
•Sustainable development comprises economic,
environmental and social dimesions.
 2.2 Environmental Concerns and
Sustainable Development
•Why should you Go Green?
•Enterprises are now increasingly interested in creating
strategies that will help them to handle environmental
issues and pursue new opportunities.
•The reason for going green are manifold:
• Increasing energy consumption and energy prices
• Growing consumer interest in environmentally friendly
goods and services
• Higher expectations by the public on enterprises’
environmental responsibilities
• emerging strict regulatory and compliance requirements.
2.3 Environmental Impact of IT
•IT affects our environment in several different
ways
•Each stage of a computer’s life, from its
production, though its use and to its disposal,
presents environmental problems.
• Manufacturing computers and their various
electronic and non-electronic computers
consumes electricity, raw materials, chemicals
and water, and generate hazardous waste.
•All these directly or indirectly increase CO2
emissions and impact the environment.
2.3 Environmental Impact of IT
•Total electrical energy consumption by
servers, computers, monitors, data
communications equipment and data
centre cooling systems is steadily
increasing.
•This increase results in greener GHG
emissions.
•For instance, each PC in use generates
about 175 kg of CO2 every year.
2.3 Environmental Impact of IT
•Computer contain toxin material, most of this
ends up in landfills, polluting the Earth and
contaminating water sources.
•Increased number of computers in use and its
frequent replacement, make IT’s
environmental impact a major concern.
•There is increasing pressure of the IT industry,
business and individuals to make IT
environmentally friendly throughout its life
cycle.
•Its our social and corporate responsibility to
safeguard our environment.
 2.4 Green IT
• IT now has a new role to play in creating a greener, more
sustainable environment, whilst offering economic benefits by
becoming greener.
• Green IT is an umbrella term referring to environmentally
sound IT and systems, applications and practices.
•It encompasses three complementary IT-enabled approaches
to improving environmental sustainability:-
• the efficient and effective design, manufacture, use and disposal
of computer hardware, software and communication systems with
no or minimal impact on the environment.
• the use of IT and information systems to empower – that is,
support, assist and leverage – other enterprise-wide environmental
activities and
• the harnessing of IT to help create awareness among stakeholders
and promote the green agenda and green initiatives.
2.5 Holistic Approach to Green IT
• Introduction
• Environmental Concerns and sustainable
Development
• Environmental Impact of IT
• Green IT
• Holistic Approach to Green IT