Top five predictions for Green IT in Asia-Pacific

The global information and communications technology (ICT) industry accounts for approximately two percent of global carbon dioxide (CO²) emissions, a figure equivalent to aviation, according to a new estimate by Gartner.

Despite the overall environmental value of IT, Gartner believes this is unsustainable. Gartner analysts examined the impact the ICT industry is having on the environment, as well as the steps the industry should take to become Greener.

Gartner’s estimate of the two percent of global CO² emissions that ICT is responsible for includes the in-use phase of PCs, servers, cooling, fixed and mobile telephony, local area network (LAN), office telecommunications and printers. Gartner has also included an estimate of the embodied (that used in design, manufacture and distribution) energy in large-volume devices, namely PCs and cell phones. It also included all commercial and governmental IT and telecommunications infrastructure worldwide, but not consumer electronics other than mobile phones and PCs.

Gartner recommends IT organisations develop a strategy to address the current negative effects of using ICT. The growth in power requirements and levels of waste that it produces renders the current state unsustainable. Such a strategy would include:

• Start measuring power consumption

• Consume fewer servers and printers by increasing utilisation – virtualise servers

• Stop over-provisioning; improve capacity planning

• Improve the efficiency of cooling

• Turn power management on, use a low power state or turn equipment off after hours

• Extend the life of assets by reusing within the enterprise and externally

• Ensure and validate the correct disposition of all electronic equipment

• Analyse all waste

Once initiatives are in place to reduce the negative effect of using ICT, Gartner recommends IT leaders develop initiatives that leverage ICT to reduce the enterprise’s overall environmental presence.