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The need to be green
The UK government is committed to reducing carbon emissions by 20 per cent from 1990 levels by 2010
Central government has committed to make the office estate carbon neutral by 2012 and local government efforts will be part of the performance assessment framework from 2008. The green agenda is a global issue and government targets will involve us all in reducing emissions and conserving energy. The forthcoming Climate Change Bill is likely to set a legally binding target of 60 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.
ICT is an obvious target with its relentless growth and high turnover of technology, but it is also a key tool for delivering green services and implementing a green policy across the organisation. With this in mind, the Society of IT Management intends to develop a key performance indicator for measuring the carbon footprint for ICT during 2008.
Latest documents
Socitm has already published two documents the topic: Last November’s report from Socitm Insight called “Green ICT?: current research into the environmental impact of ICT,” and “Green ICT - taking the strategic approach” a much shorter, four page briefing published by Socitm Consulting in September.
The longer report, as its title suggests, is based on research published in the last 12 months, and draws heavily on the work of US and EU administrators working to define standards in areas such as carbon counting, energy efficiency and disposal regimes. It also covers work being done by UK-based groups like the British Computer Society’s Data Centre Specialist Group.
The report highlights new legislative drivers and forthcoming audit requirements that will require IT managers to take the green agenda seriously and develop their understanding of environmental issues generally as well as those specific to the sector like ‘how much electricity does our ICT consume?’ ‘Do nothing’ is therefore not an option says the report: climate change and the increasing global scarcity of fossil fuels means rising electricity costs and ever more sophisticated initiatives to measure and reduce carbon emissions.
The report points out that, contrary to popular belief, ICT has poor ‘green’ credentials, and currently accounts for some two per cent of global CO2 emissions - the same amount as that of the airline industry. However, ICT also has significant potential to reduce its environmental impact from equipment manufacture and use of electricity, and could also play a major role in helping organisations become greener through adoption of practices like flexible working and increased efficiencies in business processes.
For those looking for practical guidance about how IT managers can move towards greener practices within their own department, and how ICT can be used to reduce the organisation’s overall environmental impact,
the report provides:
* an introduction to how ICT impacts upon the environment (in all stages of the equipment lifecycle)
* information about how to measure environmental impact, and ideas for its mitigation
* case studies of organisations that have used ICT to reduce the environmental impact of the organisation.
Measuring environmental impact
The ability to measure the environmental impact of ICT is vital before a business case can be made, or credit taken, for reducing it. The report explains the environmental impact of the lifecycle for ICT equipment (ie manufacturing, distribution, use, and disposal) and how this need to be managed. It highlights the fact that, despite awareness of power waste at the desktop, the lifetime energy costs of powering and cooling servers are still overlooked by many ICT professionals, even though they are now as significant as purchase costs.
In addition to putting the ICT function in order, the report shows how carefully planned use of ICT is a major factor in any green change programme designed to reduce an organisation’s office estate and travel costs. However, it warns that realistic and accurate environmental accounting for new projects is essential.
Finally, the report provides a list of actions that ICT managers can take now based on the research presented in the report, while warning that pre-conceived ideas about what is environmentally sound may lead ICT managers down the wrong path. This practical advice is supplemented with a series of case studies from eight organisations that have taken steps in this direction.
Contributing to a green agenda
The Socitm Consulting briefing “Green ICT - taking the strategic approach” aims to provide local authorities with some ideas and examples of how ICT can contribute to the green agenda, from reactive responses such as compliance with the WEEE directive to proactive initiatives such as promoting ICT systems that can support sustainability.
A key way to reduce carbon emissions, says the briefing, is to minimise work-related journeys - something that will also realise significant cash savings and productivity improvements. However, if mobile, remote, home and flexible working are to be implemented effectively, cultural change is as important as the technology, and the council must take a strategic approach to information management and security.
Adopting a green procurement policy is a growing trend, involving actively encouragement to supply environmentally friendly products and processes, and utilising environmental criteria in the selection of suppliers and award of contracts. In support of this, the government is planning to use the Sustainable Procurement Action Plan to channel £150 billion of public sector investment into transforming the supply chain to provide large-scale demand for low-carbon products including computers. Just as important is to challenge any assumptions about the need to replace equipment regularly, the safest policy probably being not to buy new PCs until they really are necessary, and to consider replacing most of them with thin clients.
Wider strategy
Reducing the energy use of ICT equipment can be part of a wider organisational strategy to reduce the carbon footprint of the estate, and significant energy and financial savings can be made by choosing the right ICT equipment and configuring and using it in energy efficient ways. Software, for example, can now automatically shut down PCs overnight or sense that a PC is off and automatically turn off all its peripherals.
Finally, the briefing suggests that managers need to set an example to their teams by changing their own behaviour and cutting down on commuting, arranging meetings to reduce travel, using technology for conference calls, collaborative working and video conferencing - and of course, refraining from printing e-mails.
Green ICT?: current research into the environmental impact of ICT runs to 72 pages and is available in print and ‘pdf’ format. The report is free to all organisations that subscribe to Socitm Insight. The charge per copy to non-subscribers is £195 (£175 to Socitm members). It can be ordered from www.socitm.gov.uk.www.socitm.gov.uk.
Green ICT - taking the strategic approach is a four-page briefing published by Socitm Consultingn September 2007 and can downloaded free of charge from the library at www.socitm.gov.uk
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