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Cleaning IT Up: Reducing Carbon Emissions
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The optimistic Energy-Star stickers are now prevalent pieces of flare adorning the metal bodies of PCs and printers, flaunting their newfound efficacy. Without a doubt, the improvements in information technology have incredibly useful implications for businesses. According to the Global e-Sustainability Initiative, emissions from information technology constitutes 2% of global emissions—the majority coming from PCs and printers. Carbon emissions are one of the greenhouse gases responsible for effecting changes in the climate, including increases in global average temperatures. Although 2% isn’t an overwhelming percentage (no one loses to their diet by ingesting 2% fat milk), the volume produced by IT is comparable to that of the aviation industry. And when it comes to marginal improvements with big impacts, 2% is enough to get businesses re-thinking their next tech purchases and vendors scheming to capture market share.
A crude line-chart of the increases in CO2 emissions as a result of the prevalence of technology.
Local corporate giants, anxious about their image and perhaps even feeling somewhat guilty looking back on their own carbon footprint, have sworn to reduce their emissions. The Walt Disney Company, based in Burbank, hopes to work some magic and reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2012 and cut electricity consumption by 10%. On an even more ambitious note, the company plans on eventually ending all direct greenhouse gas emissions and reducing indirect greenhouse gas emissions. How do they plan on achieving this goal? As the statement reads, through a variety of “reductions, efficiencies and offsets". Hopefully that refers to researching and adopting new technologies that companies, such as VIA Technologies, are coming out with.
VIA Technologies Inc., a Taiwanese manufacturer of microprocessors and chipsets, comes up as the first search result for “Carbon Free Computing”. As part of their Green Computing Initiative, the company has been aggressively pursuing the research and development of the most power efficient computing products on the market (http://www.via.com.tw/en/initiatives/cleancomputing/). In September, they launched the VIA C7-D processor, a carbon-neutral chip that sets the benchmark for performance-per-watt operation, using less demanding power supplies and more cooling fans. As Vice President of Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc., Richard Brown stated, “With an optimal blend of power efficient design, productivity driven performance, and advanced security features, it gives us great pride to offer the VIA C7-D processor as the world's first Carbon Free computing solution.” Posing as a threatening competitor to AMD and Intel, the C7-D processor uses only a fraction of the power that its less-innovative counterparts employ. And less power means less CO2 floating around in the atmosphere, which means easier breathing for us and less climate-related disasters around the world.
Innovations such as this not only result in reducing carbon emissions and conserving energy, but also introduce much-needed improvements in user experience—such as peaceful computing not interrupted by the huffing and puffing of an overheated machine. May Mickey and friends lead the way in setting the standard for behemoth corporations and may new energy-saving technologies continue to emerge to come together to salvage our atmosphere.
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