Continue scrolling to the end to download a Sustainability Report which presents information on Hitachi's environmental, social and governance performance in fiscal year 2021!
Meet the Author: Dhritiman Raychaudhuri
Dhritiman is a solutions expert specializing in cloud and datacenter modernization for Hitachi Vantara APAC. With over 18 years of experience in solution architecture, he actively promotes Hitachi’s UCP solution portfolio among customers and partners. In his spare time, he advocates for ecological balance within our world's natural ecosystem and the protection of natural resources to secure the well-being of current and future generations.
Envision a future where extreme weather devastates harvests, coastal communities are deserted due to rising sea levels, essential resources for civilization are alarmingly depleted, and our children question why we didn't act decisively when we had the chance. Frightening, isn't it?
The accelerating demand for digital goods and services is posing a significant challenge for organizations trying to keep up with advancements in data processing and infrastructure sustainability. A study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reveals that the Earth's temperature has risen by an average of 0.14°F per decade since 1880.
Sustainability is no longer a choice but a necessity for businesses, as they grapple with the need for practical solutions to environmental, social, and economic challenges. Leaders are integrating sustainability into their strategies, reducing carbon emissions, and embracing sustainable business frameworks. Some of the driving factors behind this include:
- Driving Business Transformation – Businesses globally are transitioning from merely discussing sustainability to actively implementing it. They are developing sustainable products and services, and supply chain procedures to increase revenue, comply with regulations, satisfy investors, and enhance their brand reputation.
- Reducing Environmental Footprint – Through initiatives like recycling, green energy adoption, reducing energy and water consumption, and waste reduction, organizations aim to minimize their environmental impact while saving on waste, resource, and energy costs.
- Employee Retention – Sustainability strengthens an organization's sense of purpose, a key factor for engaging and retaining a new generation of workers.
- Regulatory and Reporting Standards – The urgency for sustainability is heightened by growing energy insecurity, rapidly evolving reporting and regulatory requirements, and investor demand for strong Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance.
- Accountability – ESG investors and rating agencies are holding businesses accountable for their sustainability performance.
- Proactive Role – Businesses are expected to play a proactive role in leading initiatives that ensure a sustainable and inclusive future for the next generation.
- The Human Factor in Sustainability – The focus is shifting towards achieving tangible results by emphasizing the human element, including operationalizing people-enablers within the organization, equipping the workforce with the necessary skills, improving work quality, and designing for human sustainability.
- Long Term Investments – A sustainability plan allows a business to commit to long-term projects.
My fascination with sustainability began in the early '90s with the television series "Captain Planet and the Planeteers," which promoted environmental preservation. Now a father of a 5-year-old, I am even more committed to fostering responsible adulthood in a sustainable world. So, when Hitachi Vantara extended me an offer, I naturally investigated how Hitachi contributes to a sustainable future.
I am delighted to share that Hitachi is dedicated to reducing CO2 emissions, aiming for Net Zero by 2030 and carbon neutrality across the value chain by 2050. The company plans to enhance water and resource usage efficiency by 50%. Hitachi aligns with 11 Sustainable Development Goals, including five significantly impacted by its business strategy and six additional goals that reflect its corporate commitment to society. The company divests from business units that do not contribute to these goals. Hitachi was the first Japanese company to be appointed a COP26 Principal Partner. Hitachi Vantara offers eco-friendly infrastructure technology and advises customers on decarbonizing data centers. Some initiatives adopted by Hitachi Vantara include:
- Operating an energy-neutral distribution centre – This unique facility boasts geo-thermic based architecture, requiring less energy to heat or cool. It also utilizes rainwater harvesting and other techniques to conserve water resources. With solar panels on the roof, the centre can generate 1.4MW of electricity, marking it as the first building of its kind to minimize its use of natural resources and achieve zero usage of natural gas.
- Manufacturing center - Decarbonization is integral to our operations, not just our products. Our acclaimed VSP storage systems, manufactured in Japan, generate 38% less CO2 compared to other major global manufacturing locations.
- Certifications – The Carbon Footprint of Products (CFP) Program provides a comprehensive quantification of greenhouse gas emissions throughout a product's lifecycle. This includes everything from resource extraction and raw material procurement to production, use, and end-of-life stages. Hitachi’s VSP storage arrays are certified under the CFP Program and the ENERGY STAR Data Center Storage v2.0.
- Eco-friendly VSP – Hitachi's VSP storage arrays are designed to minimize CO2 emissions, power usage, cooling needs, and floor space in data centres. 80% of the lifecycle CO2 emissions from a storage product come from its use post-sale. Since 2014, Hitachi has achieved a 63% reduction in CO2 emissions from the VSP G1000, which previously generated 27kg-CO2/TB annually.
- Data Compression – Hitachi's Storage Virtualization Operating System (SVOS) can significantly reduce CO2 emissions by improving data reduction technologies. This development allows customers to store more user data on the purchased capacity, reducing electricity consumption and CO2 emissions by 65%. The same technologies can be applied to existing multi-vendor storage systems with equal reductions. Recent data centre assessments indicated that a storage NVMe flash configuration produced twice the CO2 emissions of an SSD with a SAS interface solution. With the right insight and guidance, CO2 emissions can be significantly reduced.
- Minimizing e-Waste – Hitachi's non-disruptive technology can extend the lifecycle of storage media by up to 10 years by eliminating the need for data migration. This removes the power-intensive, time-consuming process of running old and new systems in parallel, which requires extra cooling and can take months to complete. Additionally, it reduces CO2 emissions by eliminating the need for transportation for recycling every three years. This strategy can result in significant cost savings and improved efficiency for organizations.
In the recently concluded Phase 3 of Disney’s Marvel franchise, my feelings toward the character of Thanos were a mix of fascination and revulsion. I found myself drawn to his passion for preserving balance and ensuring a sustainable future, yet his methods were undeniably horrific. This led to a realization: we cannot rely solely on individuals to guide us to salvation. It's imperative that we take action and assume responsibility for our own actions to secure a sustainable future for ourselves and our children. THE TIME IS NOW…
Epilogue… My daughter recently asked me why the pictures I was adding to a document lacked color. I told her I'm saving all the colors so she can play with them tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that. On a more technical note, BLACK consumes the least energy to display on a monitor because black pixels do not emit light, requiring less energy than other colors.
We hope you found this blog post informative and helpful. Want to understand more? You may download a Hitachi’s Sustainability Report here: https://bit.ly/Sustainability-report1
