Green Computing: The Silent Savior of Our Environment

Green Computing: The Silent Savior of Our Environment?

The rapid rise of urbanisation has undoubtedly enriched our lives with luxuries that our ancestors couldn’t even fathom. The catalyst of these peerless cycles of modernization is our ability to consistently improve technology to generate higher levels of computation. However, up until now, this ability is at the cost of polluting the environment. 1.8% to 3.9% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to the information and communication technology (ICT) industry.

In order to rectify past oversights and to ensure sustainable advancement, the practice of green computing was introduced.

What is Green Computing?

Green computing is the process of designing, manufacturing, distributing, using, and expelling computers, chips, and other technology components and peripherals in a way to have minimal negative impact on the environment. This includes reducing carbon emissions and the amount of energy that manufacturers, data centres, and end users use.

In addition to choosing raw materials with sustainable sourcing, green computing also encompasses minimizing electronic waste, and promoting sustainability using renewable resources. In some vernaculars, green computing is also referred to as “Green IT”

Why do we need Green Computing?

Here are some facts on the current landscape of technological advancement vis a vis the impact on environment.

1. The production of a single computer involves emission of 227-270 kilos of carbon dioxide

2. According to The Guardian, in the first three months of 2021, a computer manufacturing company produced 9000 tons of hazardous waste, consumed over 4 million liters of water and over 560,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity

3. Moreover, electronic devices are rarely disposed of correctly and often end up in landfills.

4. Production of computers generates hazardous waste such as lead, mercury, and cadmium

5. Out of $250 billion per year spent on powering computers worldwide, only 15% of that power is spent on actual computing. 85% of the energy is spent when the computers are not in use but are still left on

6. The unquenchable demand for cloud solutions is slowly turning the internet into the most polluting sector. In fact, if the internet was a country, it would have been ranked 5th among the most polluting nations

These facts give us a glimpse into the extent of damage done by major corporations to our environment. Green Computing gives us the frameworks and tools to invent and use technology in a more sustainable manner.

How Green Computing Has Impacted Our Lives?

The term "green computing" came into circulation in 1992. Back then, “The Environmental Protection Agency” (EPA) initiated the Energy Star Program in the United States with the sole intent of promoting energy efficiency. Amongst multiple other measures, this program is famed for increasing the adoption of sleep mode in the IT industry. The EPA further expanded their influence by giving a grant to the Global Electronics Council that created the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, or EPEAT. EPEAT is a registry for products that meet certain performance standards, such as the materials they are made up of, how much energy they use, how long they last, and how they are handled when they are no longer useful.

With such measures, Green Computing navigated the development of the IT industry from being purely efficiency centric to normalizing a more holistic approach in innovation.

This shift in narrative has led to manufacturers, organisations, and individuals adopting environmentally conscious practices. Let’s explore these factions comprehensively.

Manufacturers: Green Computing starts at the ideation stage of a product. Through environmentally conscious mandates, manufacturers now must brainstorm over aspects like:

-??????Is its design easy to manufacture?

-??????Can it be manufactured using non-hazardous materials?

-??????Does it use less power to operate?

-??????Does it have inbuilt mechanisms to prevent energy waste in idle mode?

While answering such questions, more manufacturers come up with innovation that doesn’t come at a detrimental cost to the environment. A good example of this would be a computer named AiMOS. It is one of the most energy efficient computers and is currently being used to accelerate the process of developing efficient computing chips.

Organisations: A simple shift in buying practices and workplace hygiene is enough to bring in considerable change. Through the literature promoted through green computing initiatives, organisations are becoming more mindful of the devices they are buying. Before buying new devices, they consider factors like the energy efficiency rating of the product, the manufacturing country of the device, and its’ carbon footprint.

Moreover, adding digital hygiene measures such as forced hibernation of devices while they are idle saves considerable amount of energy. These measures can be extrapolated at an individual level as well.

Green Computing is a novel initiative that has contributed significantly towards the protection of our environment. However, its enforcement is distributed across all stakeholders of electronic devices.