Benefits of Green IT/ Green Computing

Technology has advanced to such an extent with the adoption of IT that it’s possible to send files from our smart-phones to distant Computers in an instant. As much as we depend on IT to make our lives easy, IT has been contributing to environmental problems. Nowadays the safety of environment has become crucial, moreover an essentiality for the society’s well being. Hence, in order to conserve energy in all the possible ways, respective governments advises all the sectors to make use of eco-friendly products and methodologies in every possible way. The root cause that severely affects the environment is Global Warming, let’s see how

Computers run on electricity and electricity is produced by burning coal/oil. This process releases Co2, sulphur, methane and other such gases (termed as greenhouse gases) into the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases accumulate and result in Global Warming. They also cause respiratory diseases, acid rains etc. Another factor that is a major cause of concern to the environment is the disposal of computer peripherals like monitors which end up polluting land and water. Now the question arises what can WE do to prevent emissions of gases & in the process subside the effects of Global Warming?

The answer is what is being described as Green IT. Now, to understand what Green IT is, one can say that it refers to incorporating the “GO GREEN” slogan in the IT industry. Green IT can also be referred to as “Green Computing”. It basically refers to the process of practicing environment friendly computing .This methodology is adopted in order to ensure that the usage of energy is done efficiently, to promote the idea of recycling of waste products. Businesses around the world have realized the importance of securing environment and how beneficial it can prove for them. As a result to this organizations have started taking active part in addressing the environmental issues. Businesses implement Green IT to reduce power consumption and thus lowering costs. Common people implement Green IT in order to sustain a healthy lifestyle. Data centres are an integral part of any IT firm. They are of upmost importance because they’re the central repository where the data of any given organization is stored. Not just that, it also emits a large amount of CO2 gas in the environment.

However, the problem is actually greater than the growth in power consumption by data centres. Much of the electricity that comes through the power cord of the computer is turned into heat and power conversion waste through the PC power supply. In order to encourage these good practices of conserving energy government has started to certify the data centres as Green.

Now talking about implementing Green IT in general, there are ways and means to conserve energy and thereby reducing the ill-effects on environment.

1. A little care while using our PC: We needlessly leave our personal computers on even if we’re not using them, unaware that it still uses electricity and heats up which requires additional cooling. In an enterprise the cost of electricity for hundred such computers becomes enormous. Alternately, we can use the power saving methods like sleep mode, hibernation, and standby when computers aren’t being used.
2. Screensavers: Blank screensavers reduce power consumption as compared to moving ones.
3. Another famous concept is that of The 3 R’s of going Green: 
   Reuse- Instead of throwing away old computer/parts we might reuse them or give them to someone who needs it. This will not only help that person but also reduce landfills which cause environmental hazards.
   Replace: Instead of buying a new computer altogether we can replace the old parts with new ones or buy refurbished hardware. This also helps in capital management as buying a new computer would be more expensive than buying individual parts.
   Recycle: Sometimes computer parts are beyond repair and need to be recycled. If we don’t recycle them, they end up as e-waste. If we don’t discard them properly, the harmful chemicals/metals in them (like lead, mercury, chromium) might pollute water.

Green IT is continuously interesting people and organizations all over the world, the main reason being greater financial returns on the investment made on green data centre. Green IT has gained a lot of importance because of the rising energy costs and its impact on the environment. The need to manufacture and store energy has increased mainly due to the volume of systems that the organizations generally rely on. The power consumption by companies is a critical issue. The idea of using green computing is beneficial as it helps the companies dispose their electronic waste in an effective way so that the environment is not hampered. This is also done in order to help reduce the CO2 emissions from data centres that are responsible for global damage. Green Computing with respect to data centres leads a lot of cost savings over time. Reduction in energy costs from servers, cooling and lightning helps any organization saves a lot on their budget on power.

About Author:

Harish Mani is senior consultant and is important part of Systems Plus Pvt. Ltd. think Tank. He in Systems Plus actively contributes to technology and information security. He can be contacted at: harish.m@spluspl.com