Information technology is estimated to have the same impact on climate change as aviation, and is highly wasteful of energy. But estimating the eco footprint of an IT system - a lifecycle analysis from production to disposal of the equipment – is complicated.
Start-up Ap EnvEcon, based at NovaUCD, provides decision-support systems and advice for the management of environmental change. It is currently refining proprietary software used at European-wide level to make it applicable to Irish environmental policy.
MicroPro Computers is a Dublin-based firm that produces Iameco, the only PC in the world that complies with the EU’s Eco-Label mark. It is allegedly produced with a third of the energy and is more power-efficient than standard PCs. Eco-friendly servers are more expensive but, besides being better for the environment, they save money in terms of utility costs.
Energy efficiency is a concern for large organisations, web-server farms and data centres, which are notoriously energy-hungry. Rackfloor is developing a 11,150 sq.m. data centre in Limerick, due to open in June. They’re installing a combined heat and power (CHP) plant onsite, backed up by connection to the national grid. The plant harnesses excess heat and processes it using absorption chillers, which provide free cooling to the centre.
Eircom’s 11,500 sq.m. date centre in Clonshaugh, Dublin expects to reduce energy consumption by 30% though ‘free to air’ cooling techniques, which use the external ambient temperature as part of the heat exchange process.
Most of the big companies – Microsoft, IBM, Dell, HP, Intel etc – are organised into a lobby group, The Green Grid, advancing energy efficiency in business computing ecosystems, and are involved in initiatives, such as the Climate Savers Computing initiative, which has set a target of reducing global CO2 emissions from the operation of computers by 54 million tons per year by 2010.
There are serious benefits to the IT industry in going green. Section 42 of the Finance Bill 2008 provides for capital allowances. If companies like Ap EnvEcon can show technology as a tool to monitor and increase energy efficiency – rather than simply consuming it – users are likely to invest.
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