Green computing is in the news at the moment. For example, this piece in BusinessWeek (10 green technologies that could change your life) or this one in Computing (The benefits of green IT).  One of the seven habits of ambitious companies - listen to their consience - embraces ecological responsibility. This article, by Matthew Stibbe, discusses green computing from an HP and a PC perspective.

Waste not, want not

Britain’s top 200 companies waste more than £60 million annually with power-hungry desktop computers, according to a survey carried out by Computacenter last year. This is equivalent to 2.8 gigawatt hours of power – greater than the UK’s entire output from wind farms and the same as two coal-fired power stations.

In fact, IT equipment can account for up to 70 percent of a company’s energy use, according to the Carbon Trust. A single PC left on for 220 days and night is responsible for a tonne of carbon dioxide over a three-year period.

Go green, save money

Clearly, there are powerful economic and ecological reasons for looking closely at PC power consumption. A very large company can save as much as £2m a year by adopting green IT equipment and policies. There is great potential for saving money and saving the environment by choosing computers that are more efficient and then managing them properly.

Simple measures help, such as setting up computers to switch into standby mode after thirty minutes of inactivity. Power management features can save close to 500 kWh or more than 230 kilograms of carbon dioxide annually for each PC. However, the maximum benefit comes when IT strategy and hardware are greened-up simultaneously.

Energy Star

The Energy Star programme, established in 1992 sets out energy consumption requirements for electrical goods. This includes PCs, monitors, printers, and other IT equipment. It has become an internationally recognised benchmark. Indeed, the use of Energy Star products in 2005 across the US has saved $12 billion (£6 billion) in power costs. In CO2 terms, this is equivalent to taking 23 million cars off the road. All HP displays and desktop PCs and 95 percent of its laptops are now Energy Star compliant.

On the hardware side, several options can cut power consumption dramatically. Next-generation technology means that the latest Energy Star 4.0-compliant PCs will use much less power. For example, HP has introduced new desktop PCs that have power supplies 33% more efficient than their predecessors do. They will meet the new standard before it comes into effect this summer.

Another significant development is HP’s remote client technology. Remote clients could halve computer energy consumption. They move processing and storage away from the desktop to a company data centre. They still look and work like a regular PC – they run Windows and familiar applications like Word and Excel - but they are much easier to manage and much more energy-efficient.

Ironically, ‘sweating’ IT assets by stretching the time between upgrades can be expensive because new computers are so much more energy-efficient than old ones. However, upgrading means disposing or recycling machines. This is another ecological concern that has a business dimension.

WEEE

In July 2007, the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (the WEEE Directive) will come into effect in the UK. The government wants to increase recycling of IT equipment and to cut the 1.5 million computers buried in landfill sites every year in the UK. In fact, the European Union landfills almost 2 million tonnes of electronic waste annually according to the Carbon Trust. Over a third of that is IT waste. Under WEEE, manufacturers will have to meet the environmental costs of dealing with waste products from old electrical goods.

Thanks to a worldwide recycling programme, HP is on track to surpass the psychological goal of 1 billion pounds (450,000 tonnes) of recycled equipment by the end of 2007, which is almost a quarter of the mass of electronic waste that would otherwise enter landfill across Europe.

Landfill is only part of the disposal problem. Manufacturers, including HP, are already committed to reducing the use of toxic chemicals in their products. However, the RoHS directive, Restriction on Hazardous Substances, will further cut the nasty stuff, such as lead, cadmium and mercury, in future electronics.

The switch to flat panel displays over the past few years has been a something of a role model for future IT upgrades. It cut emissions and reduced toxic waste. Because cathode ray tubes were particularly heavy in toxic substances. They also used 150 watts, compared to a modern liquid crystal display, which uses a mere 30 watts.

What's good for the planet is good for business too

In an era of increased environmental awareness, political pressure and budgetary stress, manufacturers must stay several steps ahead not only for the sake of commercial success but also to ensure legal compliance and to do their duty as good corporate citizens. Customers, too, need to look ahead and think harder about the ecological cost of their computing. It’s not just good for the environment; it’s good for business too.