Understanding The Green Future!
“For those new to Tech IT Easy who could obviously not remember the initial announcement, Anand Kishore Raju is a new blogger on Tech IT Easy, who will focus on providing you with analyses of greening the internet, carbon footprints, energy and power figures of the internet and web2.0. Anand, the floor is now yours…”
The debate on climate change has moved beyond an argument about whether it is happening or not, to a discussion about what can be done to tackle its root causes. Pollution and energy savings are keywords that are becoming more and more of interest to people and to governments across the globe, and the research community is also becoming more sensible towards these topics.
McKinsey & Co. recently reported that the world’s 44 Million servers* consume about 0.5 percent of total electricity productions across the globe and emits about 80 megatons of Carbon Dioxide a year, which is nearly the emissions of entire countries like Argentina or the Netherlands (Data needs an Update ).
Recent Studies have also estimated that power consumption related to ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) can be somewhere from 2% to 10% of the worldwide power consumption. This trend is expected to increase notably in the near future. Not surprisingly, reports also confirm that only 20% of ICT carbon emissions derive from manufacturing, while 80% arise from equipment use. With increasing penetration rates of Internet broadband in Asia and Africa these numbers are all set to scale newer heights.
One of the ways to be Green and lower the Carbon Footprint is to Just have less and Do less.
Related posts:
Tags: carbon emissions, energy, environment, green, Green IT, green networking, power consumption
Globalization, Green IT, Internet, Sustainability, Technology, Telecommunications, web2.0
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Vincent van Wylick, Tech IT Easy!. Tech IT Easy! said: Understanding The Green Future!: “For those new to Tech IT Easy who could obviously not remember the initial anno… http://bit.ly/5gpT8H [...]
Hey Anand,
Well done on your first post!
I agree with you: Green shouldn't be about getting back to the Dark Ages but rather looking for ways to accomodate technical progress, economic growth, and the necessary quick and sharp reduction of our ecological footprint. My two cents the answer will come in part from technology, but mainly from a change of behaviors.
Although IT is only part of the problem, many see it as a major piece of the solution. This is what we're trying hard to do at Verteego, and hopefully achieving in doing so: helping organizations from all over the world and of all sizes to measure, track and reduce their carbon footprint, as well as manage their environmental performance better, thanks to our software.
Well done on your first post again, and let's meet up soon!
Jeremy
Hi Jeremy,
Nice to hear from you, thanks for your comments. I do agree IT a major piece of the solution and in a longer run intelligent use of IT must pave the way for Greening the Society. With an exploding rate of increase in ICT(esp in Data centers and Telecoms), possible IT solutions like Verteego can actually change the way these ICTs operate without affecting the throughput(i mean QoS and Efficiency).
Looking forward to meet you soon.
Anand
Hey Anand,
Thank you for your reply.
Yet I think Green IT shouldn't just focus on hardware and datacenters, but also look at software – especially applications that will enable companies and people to track their footprint. And not only the one of their datacenters but also the environmental footprint of their premises, logistics and supply chain, paper and ink consumption, utility consumptions (water, electricity,…), transportation and travels, waste, etc.
Jeremy
Hi Anand,
Nice first post. Can you explain the second picture a little more? It looks to me like North Korea is black compared to its neighbours, but I don't see how it then does not become a model green society. I get what you are trying to say more or less, but it would be good to have that point expanded for our readers a little bit.
Hi Vincent!
Let me try and explain you the idea of Green Society.
My idea of a Perfect Green Society is one which is economically developing(/ed), technologically Sound and ecologically aware of their impact on the environment. In the second satellite picture, the black spot in the map which is N.Korea cannot be called as a Green Society because they are still far behind the benchmarks which could compare the lifestyle and living practices of citizens in N.Korea to rest of the world.
The blackspot represents the shortage of power supply during the night time.Every Night the authorities shut down the circuit from around 7 PM to 10PM, and from 12 AM to 3 AM, when the people watch television the most. As a result, the people charge their car batteries during daytime and use it at night. A 12V battery can run a television and 30-watt light bulb. If they utilize a converter, they can use a color television, which needs more electricity. Ownership of batteries is a standard of wealth. Officials use electricity from batteries in each room. They usually draw thick curtains in their rooms, to prevent light shining through that might draw attention to their status.
This society isnt Green by choice, rather they are Green by force.
I hope it helps.
Agreed ! Its a collective effort. As China in particular has long argued that it is too poor to afford the Western luxury of environmental awareness. This claim seems to be bogus. In my next article I will writing about Environmental Performance Index (EPI), which is assigned to all the countries world wide and ranks them in order of Most Green to least Green. Not surprisingly China ranks 105th in the rankings.
In process of writing….. Hope you would enjoy !!
Thanks Anand, that certainly clears picture 2 up more. Though I guess my real question is that just because one country turns the lights on or off, does it make it more or less environmentally conscious. I'm particularly thinking of countries like China here, which has historically not been a very green country.