Green IT: Being Environmentally Friendly in the Digital Age

The concept of Green IT or Eco ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) was developed to provide solutions to the ecological and social footprint of digital technology. With the introduction of 5G and 8K into our lives, it's now time to take a closer look at what this concept is really about.

Green IT refers to all information technologies (IT) whose use reduces the harmful effects of human activities on the environment. However, this definition is still incomplete today. The Green IT concept, also known as "Green Computing," can be defined in two ways:

• Green IT refers to all technologies that enable companies to reduce their carbon footprint, greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, etc. This means all technologies that help reduce the environmental impact of IT.
• Additionally, Green IT encompasses the socio-economic principles adopted at both the corporate and societal levels to initiate an ecological transition.

There are several versions where the concept of Green IT has evolved from past to present.

1. Green IT 1.0: Eco-design (Responsible Digital Design or RDD), principles aimed at protecting the environment through energy savings, waste management, etc.
2. Green IT 1.5: It refers to all telecommunications and network services required to design a Sustainable Development Information System (SDIS). It is based on the principles of using digital communication tools and Agile working methods with specific digital tools to reduce employee travel time during remote work by rapidly and effectively communicating with digital communication tools.
3. Green IT 2.0: Instead of just improving their own sectors' carbon footprints, it takes IT usage a step further by using and implementing environmentally friendly information and communication technologies and methods beyond the company.

Digital Carbon Footprint Is Growing Every Year

The carbon footprint associated with digital activities is estimated to account for about 4% of global total emissions. This represents approximately 2 gigatons of CO2.

So, how can such a figure be measured? Digital technology releases a carbon mass equivalent to the weight of an average of 200,000 Eiffel Towers into the atmosphere. To sequester all this carbon, one-third of the world's land surface would need to be covered with forests!

So What Can You Do?

1. Extend the lifespan of your IT equipment

2. Reduce your server emissions

Another way for companies to reduce their emissions is to switch to a Cloud service provider. Cloud providers always use less energy to conduct their operations.

Suppliers such as AWS, Orange, and Microsoft Azure can invest in human and financial resources to optimize their overhead costs, which are largely dependent on auxiliary electricity consumption. For example, the electricity consumption of AWS Data Centers is three times lower than the consumption of Data Centers located on-site in traditional companies.

3. Reduce emissions associated with cloud usage

The same applies to renting computing power (servers like VPS) from data centers. Cloud providers offer a certain number of processors for their customers to use. To prevent service disruptions, the number of processors is defined according to the highest demand. As in network systems, acting to "lighten the load" by using computational capacity during times of highest availability makes it possible to reduce the carbon impact of Cloud services.

Additionally, you can move your cloud systems to France. French electricity is one of the electrical systems in Europe with the least carbon emissions. For example, if all of Amazon’s AWS servers were moved to France, CO2 emissions related to electricity could decrease by 6.5%!

Digital Energy Consumption - Statistical Facts

• In 2019, 2.16 billion orders of mobile phones, tablets, and computers were delivered worldwide.
• Globally, more people have access to mobile phones than those who have access to safe drinking water.
• In 2010, 297 million smartphones were sold worldwide. In 2021, more than 1.4 billion were sold.
• Compared to 8% in 1984, by 2018, 92% of households in the USA had a computer at home. In 2018, 78% of all households had a desktop or laptop computer, 84% had a smartphone, 63% had a tablet, and 85% had a broadband internet connection.
• In 2009, more than 14% of households used their primary computer for more than 10 hours a day.
• In 2012, computers and office equipment consumed 253 billion kWh of electricity; this was equivalent to 24% of the total electricity consumption of office buildings that year.
• In 2014, US data centers consumed 70 billion kWh of electricity, representing 1.8% of the total electricity consumption.
• In 2007, the highest power associated with servers and data centers was 7 GW. Current technologies and efficient design strategies can reduce server energy usage by 25% or more, while best management practices and server consolidation can reduce energy usage by 20%.
• In response to COVID, many countries saw an increase in telecommunications.
• In 2020, working from home during COVID resulted in a 13% decrease in business-related energy consumption and a 14% decrease in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
• The IT sector accounts for 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and this could double by 2025.

Reduce Your Energy Consumption!

• If all office equipment is in low power mode and used as such, office equipment energy consumption can be reduced by 23%. If all desktop computers and printers are turned off at night, energy consumption will decrease by approximately 9%.
• Energy Star certified computer servers are on average 30% more efficient than standard servers. If all servers in the US met Energy Star standards, $1 billion in energy savings would be achieved and 8.2 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions would be prevented annually.
• Energy consumed by devices in standby mode accounts for 5-10% of energy use in homes. Unplug electronic devices when not in use or plug them into a switchable power strip and turn them off. Turning off a computer when not in use can save 50,505 kWh and 415 pounds of CO2 per computer annually.
• Setting computer monitors to go into sleep mode after 5-20 minutes of inactivity while leaving computers on, and setting desktop computers to enter standby mode after 30-60 minutes, greatly reduces energy consumption. Don’t forget to set the standby mode settings on the digital devices you use daily in your life.

What Are the Benefits of Green IT?

In addition to environmental ethics, having sustainable management in your company also has an economic return. This makes Green IT strategies attractive for organizations of all types and sizes.

It is natural for companies with a more modest budget to struggle with implementing green initiatives in practice, as an initial investment is required after all. However, as green actions are carried out, the gains in efficiency, productivity, and cost reductions become quite apparent in the long run. These long-term savings also provide cash flow for new improvements.

However, implementing these sustainable practices on a small and micro scale even for smaller companies prepares the ground for significant changes according to the evolution of these organizations within the process.

Moreover, having a Green IT understanding provides companies with strategic positioning that shows their ability to understand the values of the industry and society. Being able to say, “We value the environment and shape our working principles according to the Green IT understanding,” allows brands and companies to be perceived more positively in society.

In summary, some of the advantages of Green IT are:

• Reduced and smarter energy consumption
• Increased free space in cloud systems by eliminating unnecessary waste
• Lower equipment costs with local servers
• Equipment modernization and longer maintenance periods
• Increase in performance and productivity
• Value that contributes to brand, image, and reputation

So What Can We Do Regarding Software?

An environmentally conscious software developer might consider the eco-friendliness criterion when choosing a programming language for their project. The fastest running languages can be considered the most eco-friendly programming languages. According to a study conducted in 2021, the fastest and therefore the most eco-friendly programming languages were C and Rust, while the slowest languages were Perl and Python.