Green IT!

We have probably noticed that green is everywhere these days, i.e., in the news, politics, fashion, and even technology. We can hardly escape it on the Internet, and now with the Planet Green TV network, we can even enjoy eco-friendly entertainment 24 hours a day. That’s all great as far as we’re concerned, but with a million messages and ideas coming at us from all sides, we can get easily carried away by the green processes like putting on the thermostat, or switching to organic foods or so, without thinking about the big picture of how our actions stack up at the end. So first of all we should ask ourselves what is GREEN….

Green IT
Green computing or green IT, refers to environmentally sustainable computing or IT. It is "the study and practice of designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, servers, and associated subsystems—such as monitors, printers, storage devices, and networking and communications systems—efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact on the environment. Green IT also strives to achieve economic viability and improved system performance and use, while abiding by our social and ethical responsibilities. Thus, green IT includes the dimensions of environmental sustainability, the economics of energy efficiency, and the total cost of ownership, which includes the cost of disposal and recycling. It is the study and practice of using computing resources efficiently. To comprehensively and effectively address the environmental impacts of computing/IT; we must adopt a holistic approach and make the entire IT lifecycle greener by addressing environmental sustainability along the following four complementary paths:

1. Green use — reducing the energy consumption of computers and other information systems as well as using them in an environmentally sound manner
2. Green disposal — refurbishing and reusing old computers and properly recycling unwanted computers and other electronic equipment
3. Green design — designing energy-efficient and environmentally sound components, computers, servers, cooling equipment, and data centers
4. Green manufacturing — manufacturing electronic components, computers, and other associated subsystems with minimal impact on the environment

Government Initiative –
Many governmental agencies have continued to implement standards and regulations that encourage green computing. The Energy Star program was revised in October 2006 to include stricter efficiency requirements for computer equipment, along with a tiered ranking system for approved products. Some efforts place responsibility on the manufacturer to dispose of the equipment themselves after it is no longer needed; this is called the extended producer responsibility model. The European Union's directives 2002/95/EC (Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive), on the reduction of hazardous substances, and 2002/96/EC (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive) on waste electrical and electronic equipment required the substitution of heavy metals and flame retardants like Polybrominated biphenyl and Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in all electronic equipment put on the market starting on July 1, 2006. The directives placed responsibility on manufacturers for the gathering and recycling of old equipment.

Industry Initiative -
Climate Savers Computing Initiative (CSCI) is an effort to reduce the electric power consumption of PCs in active and inactive states.[9] The CSCI provides a catalog of green products from its member organizations, and information for reducing PC power consumption. It was started on 2007-06-12. The name stems from the World Wildlife Fund's Climate Savers program, which was launched in 1999. The WWF is also a member of the Computing Initiative. The Green Electronics Council offers the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) to assist in the purchase of "green" computing systems. The Council evaluates computing equipment on 28 criteria that measure a product's efficiency and sustainability attributes. On 2007-01-24, President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13423, which requires all United States Federal agencies to use EPEAT when purchasing computer systems.

How to implement green IT?

Virtualization
Virtualization within the IT environment helps you make more efficient use of existing software and hardware resources. You can use popular virtualization software to create VMs (virtual machines) that share hardware resources while functioning as completely separate entities on a network.
There are several key benefits to using server consolidation and virtualization analysis solutions, including operational efficiency, better resource allocation, and enhanced security.

» Understand it: Find out how virtualization technology can help you allocate resources more efficiently, meet business demands, and save money over the long term.
» Plan it: Learn how to evaluate your current IT environment and determine which hardware and software are the best candidates for virtualization.
» Do it: Pick up best practices for selecting solution components and deploying your virtualization solution.
» Use it: Explore management tools and learn the essentials of securing complex virtualized environments.
» Buy it: Shop for virtualization software, certified hardware, storage, and consulting services.

E-Waste Recycling
"E-waste" is a popular, informal name for electronic products nearing the end of their "useful life." E-wastes are considered dangerous, as certain components of some electronic products contain materials that are hazardous, depending on their condition and density. The hazardous content of these materials pose a threat to human health and environment. Discarded computers, televisions, VCRs, stereos, copiers, fax machines, electric lamps, cell phones, audio equipment and batteries if improperly disposed can leach lead and other substances into soil and groundwater. Many of these products can be reused, refurbished, or recycled in an environmentally sound manner so that they are less harmful to the ecosystem. This paper highlights the hazards of e-wastes, the need for its appropriate management and options that can be implemented.

Management of E-Waste
It is estimated that 75% of electronic items are stored due to uncertainty of how to manage it. These electronic junks lie unattended in houses, offices, warehouses etc. and normally mixed with household wastes, which are finally disposed off at landfills. This necessitates implementable management measures.
In industries management of e-waste should begin at the point of generation. This can be done by waste minimization techniques and by sustainable product design. Waste minimization in industries involves adopting:
• Inventory management,
• Production-process modification,
• Volume reduction,
• Recovery and reuse.

POWER MANAGEMENT
Power management is a feature of some electrical appliances, especially copiers, computers and computer peripherals such as monitors and printers that turns off the power or switches the system to a low-power state when inactive. In computing this is known as PC power management and is built around a standard called ACPI. This supersedes APM. All recent (consumer) computers have ACPI support.

Power Management Keys
Power management keys are three keys on computer keyboards which control the computer's power management status. They are the Power key, the Sleep key, and the Wake key:
 The Power key is used both to power on and to power off the computer.
 The Sleep key is used to put the computer to sleep, when it uses significantly lower power than when it is active, but can be woken quickly.
 The Wake key wakes the system from standby.
The power saving modes and the transition between them is usually implemented using ACPI.
On computers running Windows Vista, the Windows key can also act as a power management key, and turns on the computer when pressed.

Renewable-energy
Renewable energy is any energy source that is naturally replenished, like that derived from solar, wind, geothermal or hydroelectric action. Energy produced from the refining of biomass is also often classified as renewable. Coal, oil or natural gas, on the other hand, are finite sources.

Standby-power
Standby power is electrical power that a device consumes when not in present use, but plugged in to a source of power and ready to be used. Standby power consumption is the amount of such power that is used even though the power drainage is not apparent. The terms apply to appliances such as television sets, computers, computer peripherals, and various other devices, including those that use battery chargers.

Telecommuting
Telecommuting is the use of telecommunication to work outside the traditional office or workplace, usually at home (SOHO) or in a mobile situation. Telecommuting can reduce greenhouse gases, save gasoline usage and associated purchase costs and reduce urban traffic congestion. (Undress4Success.com)

Water-cooling
Water cooling is an eco-friendly method used to lower the temperatures of computer processors, and sometimes other components such as graphics cards, using water rather than air as the cooling medium. Also known as "liquid cooling."
Organizations who have already implemented Green Computing

There is much to learn from organizations implementing Green IT initiatives. No single piece of information, however, is more compelling than the level of success organizations have seen. The benefit most commonly realized by 68% of companies was the ability to increase features and functionality. This includes enhancements in computing or storage capacity, and meeting employee demands for features or environmental action. Overall, 65% of companies successfully realized one of the major benefits of Green IT – a positive sign for companies considering these initiatives. The chart below displays the main benefit realized by each initiative for the top four implementation drivers: decreasing energy costs, decreasing consumables used, increasing features and functionality, and decreasing other expenses or future investments. Storage
Consolidation for example, had two main benefits: the enhancement of features and functionality due to the resulting increased computing capacity and reliability, and the reduction of future investments needed for storage hardware.

Regulations around the World

Kyoto Protocol: Environmental treaty developed by the United Nations, and ratified by several countries (excluding the US who declined ratification). Sets targets for countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive introduced in 2002, and enforced in February 2003 for all EU member states. Restricts the use of hazardous material in electronics and promotes proper recycling. Energy Conservation Act introduced in 2001: This was enacted by the Indian government to encourage energy efficiency. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency will enforce strict policies for energy consumption and supply.National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act introduced in 2007, and enforced as of July 2008 in Australia.



Manjari Medha
SCIT-SSR