I think, we need one more green revolution, and in current
scenario, I would call it as Green Revolution 2.0. This green revolution is not
for the renovation of agricultural practices (like old green revolution), but
this is to help build environment GREEN to save the only planet where we can
breathe, i.e., the Earth.
Everyone talks about the words like Green, Go Green, Think Green, etc. etc…. but what that means? What green means?
The Green initiative means making eco-friendly
sustainable environment. If we are
talking about Green IT (Information technology) then it means to make an eco-friendly
and sustainable IT. Eco-friendly IT
means an IT which is less harmful for us and environment, and making a
sustainable IT which reduces the e-waste. About Green IT, Wikipedia says – “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.” So I must say Green IT is as much about us rather
than just a technology. Green IT is also called Green Computing.
There are a lot ways to support Green
IT (Green Computing), i.e., to bring Green Revolution 2.0 in IT; I am discussing
several of them-
Desktop and laptop computers
are the base for IT; however they consume lot electric energy, that’s why power
management of personal computer (PC) is the best way to save electricity. Power
management includes, switching off monitor when it is idle, putting PC in stand
by or hibernate mode if you are taking break from your work, reducing
brightness of monitor. A properly power managed PC saves enough energy to power
a 75W light bulb continuously for over a year. You can purchase the products
which supports Green, processor which supports undervolting to reduce the
electric energy. Software like Granola can be
use as power management software.
We should adopt the paperless
work strategy. This means we must use digital documentation format like e-documents.
E-documents includes e-mail, e-bill, e-cash etc etc. Try to make more and more
e-documents because if we reduce paper printing, it will save printer papers, electricity,
and ink of printer.
Waste management is one the major
part of administration and e-waste management is very difficult to manage
because e-waste is not properly recycled. If we think computer’s e-waste, then
only 50% of computer parts can be recycled. Most of the e-waste is dumped at
sea, disassembled by hand, or burned in an open air. These disposal methods are
very dangerous for human and environment.
26 US States that have established state-wide recycling programs for
obsolete computers and consumer electronics equipment. I came across the shocking
statement on ‘Wikipedia’ about e-waste disposal – “computers gathered
through recycling drives are shipped to developing countries where
environmental standards are less strict than in North America and Europe . The Silicon Valley Toxics
Coalition estimates that 80% of the post-consumer e-waste collected for
recycling is shipped abroad to countries such as China , India ,
and Pakistan
Nowadays, telecommute is one of the blooming
concept to make greener IT. Telecommute is the way in which we can work at home
rather than going in the office. This reduces greenhouse gas emission related
to travel, reduces an overhead cost for office space, lighting, air
conditioning, etc. Use the next
generation technology like WiMAX and Voice over IP (VoIP) to support green
initiative. WiMAX is a long distance wireless network which reduces the wiring
infrastructure. VoIP is the web based telephone which reduces the telephony
wiring infrastructure by sharing the existing Ethernet copper wire.
Leading organizations
can invest in alternate energy sources like - solar, wind, hydro power, which will
balance their carbon secretion and can save the electrical energy. E.g. Google Inc. is using solar energy
Next generation
computers like chemical computer and DNA computer will play vital role in the
green revolution 2.0. In near future, computers can replace the silicon based
chip to chemical or biological (DNA) chips for better performance. This will
also reduce power consumption and toxic material produced from e-waste.
Datacenters is
the need of the today’s IT world however they produce 0.3% of the world's CO2
emissions. The effectiveness of algorithms has an impact on the
amount of computer resources required for any given computing function. This is
dependent on designing an efficient algorithm. Well-designed algorithms can be
used to route data to data centers. The efficient algorithm can save up to a 40
% of energy costs.
In cloud computing,
all data and applications will be saved and accessed from a remote server or a
remote data center. This approach will save energy, cost and resources. AT&T
funded Carbon Disclosure Project issued
a report,
which reveals that, a company that adopts cloud computing can reduce its energy
consumption, lower its carbon emissions and decrease its capital expenditure on
IT resources.
4 tons of CO2 are
eliminated for every server virtualized. That’s why virtualization can play
vital role in green computing. Virtualization is the technology that
abstracts computing resources and separates out the operating system so that machine
can run multiple applications. Virtualization can reduce hardware, energy, and
support costs.
The government has taken
initiative about certifying the data centers as green. There are some criteria in
government’s regulation which includes using low-emission building materials,
recycling, using alternative energy technologies, and other green technologies.
So the bottom line is,
Green IT starts with engineering eco-friendly products and
encouraging IT departments to consider more eco-friendly options like telecommute,
virtualization, paperless work, power management, reducing e-waste, proper
recycling habits and establishing green certified data centers.
Greening our IT products, applications, services, and
practices are an economic and an environmental necessity, as well as our social
responsibility because we all breathe the same air and
live on the same planet
So
please, save the earth because,
In universe, Earth is
the only planet where we can breathe...
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