Blogs
February 2025

Green IT

Introduction

An intriguing headline got my attention which stated, “Parts of Kolkata to go underwater within 2030”. It is quite obvious to know by now that it is not because of any alien attack or abnormal rise in sea level without any cause. We are quite familiar with the word “global warming” which needs no new introduction or definition. There are indeed many causes of global warming and technological advancement is one of them. Technology without IT is something like bread without butter in current world’s scenario. Although, it might sound like IT is all about software and how a non-touchable thing can contribute towards global warming, it actually does either directly or indirectly.

Green IT (Information Technology) or green computing as it is better known by is the practice of developing and advancing IT infrastructure in an environmentally sustainable way. IT operations do have numerous negative effects on the environment and green computing aims at reducing those effects by operating and designing IT hardware products in an environmentally friendly way.

Some of the alarming and dangerous effects of IT operations are enumerated as under

  • ICT (Information and Communication Technology) waste refers to Computer, communication devices and their peripherals that has reached their end of life. These devices are often mishandled once they become ICT waste and with improper recycling, harmful toxic metals that they contain can leak into the environment.
  • Habitat destruction is considered to be the biggest negative impact of tech on environment. All the Computing devices are manufactured with the help of some materials, sometimes minerals for which the earth is mined. Removing too many minerals or other materials can deplete the natural resources and offset that particular area’s natural balance. It is understood, that, nowadays most of the manufacturing companies use environmentally friendly resources for their device manufacturing, but some space is still required to set up big manufacturing factories, which in turn involves things like animals losing their home and deforestation.
  • IT generates a lot of pollution. Physical devices like Mobile, laptops, servers and others may not produce any harmful gases directly, but they use electricity for their working and generation of electricity releases harmful emissions. Data centers are set up in every city which contains massive servers. These servers facilitate internet functions that we use from the comforts of our home. They consume a huge amount of electricity and more electricity consumption means more electricity generation and thus, more carbon Dioxide emission. A phone running for 1 hour can produce 1.4 tons of carbon dioxide.
  • Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning are the latest IT development which has captured the market. These fields are computationally intensive technologies which results in high carbon footprints.

These are some of the negative effects of IT operations but we have no choice. We have to go with IT and develop it to make it more efficient, Isn’t it? The simple answer is No. We do have a choice which can balance the environmental degradation as well as IT development. If we date back to 90s, we can see that many private as well as government organizations planned and came up with some remarkable initiatives to promote and follow “GREEN IT”. One such organization is U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. They launched the very famous Energy Star program. It is a labelling program which was designed for promoting and identifying energy efficiency in almost all technological equipment. As a result, consumer electronic products started adopting sleep mode and other energy saving mode. Simultaneously, TCO development, a Swedish company launched the TCO Certified program. This program aimed at promoting low magnetic and electrical emissions from Cathode Ray Tube based computer Displays. The Energy Star Program was later revised in 2006 and stern efficiency requirement cum tiered based ranking system was included. Since then, numerous other organizations came up with their innovative ways of tackling environmental imbalances as a result of IT boom.

How can industries and companies achieve green IT?

Industries and companies should seriously start taking this as an important issue as it is adversely affecting the Climate change. Additionally, practising Green IT can also give competitive advantage for the companies. Some of the ways, one can practice Green IT are stated below: –

  1. Producing Less waste:- Producing less e-waste is the most efficient way of achieving green IT. This can be made possible by using refurbished IT equipment. Along with being environmentally friendly, this will also prove to be less expensive. It comes under the circular economy where waste parts of the equipment is eliminated and supply chain resiliency is improved to a great extent.
  2. Creating awareness:- When a company starts adopting a new functionality or a practice, it creates an awareness message for all of its competitor partners. Companies can either look it as an environmental issue or just go with the flow taking it as a competitive advantage. In both the ways, one common result is achieved which is “Reducing Carbon footprints”.
  3. Creating innovative but sustainable designs:- Green IT can be achieved by encouraging the vendors to create sustainable product design. This will need some brainstorming but the end result will be very fruitful.
  4. Using Energy Star Programme:- Industries should buy Electronic equipment with energy star ratings, preferably 3-5 stars which is more energy efficient.
  5. Supporting hybrid and remote work:- Office consumes a huge amount of energy for every single employee. This can be balanced by supporting more and more hybrid and remote works. People can work from their remote home which in turn will decrease the energy requirements in office.

Though it looks very simple, Green IT has some challenges. Dismantling the old IT system and establishing new green technologies will need a lot of costing. Prioritizing levels of development in industries and systems can be a herculean task too. Also, Relationship between the supplier and the client can be hampered and companies may not wish to take this kind of a risk. There are a lot of other factors which make this process more formidable. It is not that, it can never be achieved. Good things take time. Green IT will surely gain attention as the years go by from the industrialists, executives, Employees, you and me, as, being a responsible citizen, we all know the consequences, a “changing climate” can bring. Green IT indeed has a great future. Top IT giants like Google, Amazon and Microsoft’s own clouds are carbon neutral/about to be. Microsoft’s Azure plans to be carbon negative by 2030 while the other too plans to be carbon neutral by 2030.

Disclaimer: The information, statements and opinions contained in this content are of a general nature only and do not take into account your individual circumstances including any laws, policies, procedures or practices you or your employer or businesses may have or be subject to. Although the statements of fact on this page have been obtained from and are based upon sources that L&T EduTech believes to be reliable, it does not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.

Ananyo Chakrabarty
Author
Ananyo Chakrabarty is an Associate Engineer at L&T, with a B. Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from Veltech Rangarajan Dr. Sagunthala R&D Institute of Science and Technology, Avadi, Chennai. While deeply rooted in software development, he is equally passionate about creative expression. An avid writer and poet, his literary skills has earned him accolades. He also enjoys reciting, singing, and playing cricket, blending his analytical mindset with artistic flair. With a strong foundation in technology and a love for public speaking and the arts, he thrives at the crossroads of innovation and creativity.