The Importance of Green IT

Introduction

Getting a grip on climate change is one of the most important challenges for humanity for the 21st century. It is clear that information and communication technologies (ICT) have a key role in this process as ICT has a very important function in the transformation of our jobs and lives. Information technology is the central nervous system not only in the building of the business sector but also in the forming of governmental and social infrastructures.

Nevertheless the ICT industry is reliant on electrical energy whose availability is limited. With the growth of ICT the dependence of people on it grows too. The irresponsible use of electrical energy directly impacts the financial resources of organisations and inflicts permanent damage on the environment.

The ICT industry consumes up to 8% of the total electrical energy consumed in the European Union and is responsible for up to 2% of the total carbon emissions discharged into the atmosphere, which is same as that which is emitted by the aviation industry.[1] Additionally, recent studies show that on a global scale electrical energy consumed by personal computers increases by 5% every year. On average, electrical energy consumed in small and medium sized firms amounts to 10% of their total IT budget, in extreme cases this can amount to 50%. Nowadays the cost of the electrical energy consumed during the life of a typical computer is greater than the cost of buying it.[2] In addition to the above mentioned facts, there is Moore's Law which states that the number of transistors that can fit onto an integrated circuit doubles roughly every 24 months. This theory in essence explains why electronic waste is the fastest growing type of waste in the world. 

Green IT

Due to the above it is clear there is a need for finding ways of implementing Green IT. Green IT is not just focused on the reduction of the IT industry's effect on the environment. It is also focused on the use of ICT in order to assist in the general reduction of organisations' effect on the environment, regardless of the type, form or size of the organisation. Here the term Green IT includes the systematic implementation of the criteria for environmental sustainability (safeguarding against pollution, recycling products, using clean technologies) during design, production, purchasing, operation and disposing of IT infrastructure and the implementation of the same criteria in terms of human and governance components of IT infrastructure. 

Naturally, legislation is a key driver in the implementation of these changes in organisations and the way people live their lives. In many countries there already exists legislation and new laws in regards to the environment as an act of parliament, an example being the United Kingdom. However, the challenges for the implementation and the development of this topic anywhere in the world are huge.

The conceptual foundation of Green IT is based on four most discussed topics in the Green IT area, virtualisation, cloud computing, data center management, e-waste; and the organizational motivation factors supporting the Green IT adoption defined by Alemayehu Molla (2009).

A.    Virtualisation

Virtualisation as a technology is one of the easiest paths to implementing the practices of Green IT. Virtualisation allows for better use of computer systems. More importantly virtualisation can help in the creation and maintenance of energy efficient and ecological data centers. Some of the advantages for the environment resulting from virtualisation are:

• Costs of electrical energy - a physical server needs the same amount of electrical energy regardless of whether the processor is working with a big or small load.
• Costs of cooling - having less physical servers which emit heat in data centres reduces the load on the cooling system.
• Electronic waste - having less physical servers which will need to be replaced means having less electronic waste which companies have to deal with. 

B.    Cloud computing

The use of cloud computing has various direct, indirect and systematic consequences for the surroundings of working in the cloud. 

Direct effects are, of course, the most visible and in this instance are a consequence of a significant decrease in the amount of hardware owned and a greater use of cloud resources. This is because of the fact that such services are centralized by third parties who are able to serve a number of customers simultaneously. A direct result is the reduction of the consumption of electricity by hardware and also electricity for cooling.

Indirect effects of cloud computing are connected to the reduction in CO2 emissions as a result of its implementation and also whilst operating. Companies that use such services are able to focus more on their business as fewer resources will need to be dedicated to maintaining their services and infrastructure.

When talking about systematic consequences there are 3 aspects of efficiency which need to be taken into consideration:

• the physical location and design of the data centre
• the architecture of the platform
• the architecture and access to the development of the applications which are being hosted.

C.    E-waste

Electronic devices have unique characteristics which cause their production and usage to have great impact on the environment and society. This makes managing electronics problematic and challenging. Society and the environment face the following problems:

• Poor design and aggressive marketing by production companies
• Electronics contain many toxic substances which make electronic waste toxic
• Electronics contain many rare and precious materials
• The majority of electronic waste is improperly discarded and this means that society and the environment pay the price for the poor and toxic design.

D.    Data center management

Data centres have become key elements in the functioning of businesses, academic and governmental institutions and in every day communication. The number of data centres grows as our society and economy changes from paper based into digital. The EPA’s (Environmental Protection Agency)  report from 2007, estimates that the amount of electrical energy consumed by data centres in the USA in the period from 2000 to 2006 has doubled, reaching 61 billion kWh. According to current efficiency trends it is estimated that this number has doubled by 2011, reaching a level of more than 100 billion kWh. In dollar terms this amount is equivalent to 7.4 billion dollars spent on electricity costs. 

When designing green data centres, understanding how much energy was used by the equipment is very important in order to be able to optimize it. For that purpose there is a need to:

• Have a clear picture how much energy the equipment is using at any given time
• Decrease the amount of physical infrastructure
• Install more servers on more powerful energy sources
• Have a monitoring and reporting platform for energy use
• Lower the costs of managing a data centre

E.    Organizational motivation factors for Green IT

An organisation is a collective whose behavior is influenced by human motivating factors. In the context of accepting information technology, motives can be defined as a desire which initiates activities of an organisation to accept a specific innovatory system.

The motives can be analysed from the aspect of their locus – origin or focus. The locus of the motivation can be internal or external. The internal refer to the mission, beliefs and system of values of the organisation. The external motives come about from the intervention from government (formal) or market (informal). 

In terms of focus there are more groups, classifies them into two wider categories: techno-economic and socio-political.  Techno-economic motives relate to accepting new technologies and systems for improving the operation of the organisation and the socio-political for accepting specific systems under the influence of outside authority.

Locus and Focus of Green IT Motivation

Eco efficiency has an internal locus and economical type of motivation. It relates to the desire for implementing specific practices and technologies to improve eco efficiency of IT while at the same time realising economic aims such as reducing costs.

Eco effectiveness as a motive appears when the organisation initiates Green IT activities as a consequence of their beliefs and system of values connected to eco sustainability and reasons that diverge from economic gain.

Eco responsive as a motive appears as a result of external locus and economic factors. Emphasis is on initiatives that are intended to satisfy a specific demand on the Green IT market.

Eco legitimacy as a motive appears as a result of the political and social pressures that the organizations are facing with. Political pressures are directed by governments and they can take form of regulations, standards, tax. In this case companies decide to implement the Green IT practices only when they are facing this kind of pressures.

References:

[1]  Adrian Sobota, Irenen Sobotaa JohnHotze, Greening IT, How Greener IT Can Form a Solid Base For a Low-Carbon Society,2009, Forward

[2]  Mark G. O’Neill, GREEN IT FOR SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS PRACTICE, An ISEB Foundation Guide, © 2010 British Informatics Society Limited, pg.2, pg 4.