News
November 2009
Why IT pros will become Chief Green Officers
‘The next big corporate "C"-level job will be the Chief Green Officer (CGO). And if IT staff plays their cards right, they'll walk right into that high-paying, high-visibility, high-payoff job. Here's why.
Greening an enterprise requires far more than a background in energy, engineering, or the environment. It's all about data, and the people who know best how to manage that data will become CGOs.
Greening an enterprise requires that someone measure initial energy use and carbon footprint at a granular level, constantly monitor that use, put a plan into effect for reducing the carbon footprint, and then continue to monitor, measure, and refine the plan. Who in an enterprise is best suited to perform this kind of monitoring and planning? IT folks. They do it every day as part of their jobs.
These facts aren't lost on the big IT vendors. Cisco and others are rushing to release hardware and software for greening the enterprise, and at the center of it all are the IT staff who will be buying, maintaining, and using the equipment and software.
There is one significant roadblock to IT pros becoming CGOs, though, and that has to do with the nature of many IT professionals. Many tend to be more reactive than proactive, and aren't necessarily versed in understanding business problems. If they're to become CGOs, that's got to change. They've got to think about the business first and technology second.
I don't expect IT staff to morph into CGOs overnight. In fact, I don't expect it to happen any time soon -- most likely not for at least two or three years at the earliest. So if you're an IT pro, and are looking for what's next in your career, start paying attention to green technology. It's likely your passport to a corner office.’ – www.greenercomputing.com
October 2009
Call to stop illegal WEEE exporting
‘A government minister has warned that a reduction in the amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) being sent abroad to landfill is needed.
MP for Wrexham, Ian Lucas, made the comments during an address to the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee conference in Liverpool on Wednesday (October 7th), according to letsrecycle.com.
UK compliance schemes need to boost the amount of old TVs and computers it recycles in order to meet new requirements set out by the EU´s WEEE Directive by halting illegal exporting, Mr Lucas said.
"Government will play its part and the Environment Agency has successfully prosecuted many businesses and organisations that have disposed of waste illegally and will continue to do so. But ultimately this can only be stopped by action at the local level," he explained.
The website recently reported that Biffa and Econo-WEEE are to appeal to the Environment Agency for a second consideration after they failed to receive approval for operation in 2010.’ – www.rapidonline.com
September 2009
IT to create greener airports
‘A new research project out of the University of Nottingham hopes to bring the power of computing to bear on how smoothly airports operate, with the goals of cutting waste and pollution while reducing delays and speeding the baggage (man) handling process.
The group has gotten nearly £690,000 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to conduct its research in airports in Manchester, U.K., and Zurich, Switzerland.
The goal is to apply computerized scheduling to streamline four areas of operations:
• Airplane takeoff schedules
• ditto for landing schedules
• Gate assignment
• Baggage handling
The hoped-for result is a search engine that is capable of analyzing the billions of possible scheduling combinations and provide the most efficient options to air traffic controllers, who can then route planes in the best way.
Professor Edmund Burke, principal investigator on the project and dean of the Faculty of Science at The University of Nottingham, said in a statement that "Many people in the industry recognise that automating just one of these aspects could improve the efficient running of airport operations, so integrating all four would be a huge step forward." ‘
-www.greenercomputing.com
August 2009
Using the ocean to cool the data centre
‘Cooling the data center represents a big IT cost and contributes significantly to carbon emissions. But plans are afoot to cool data centers with cold water from the world's oceans and lakes.
The island nation of Mauritius, located in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa, is making a pitch to become a data center haven, in part by using the ocean currents that bring cold water within two miles of shore.
Data Center Knowledge reports:
The Mauritius Eco-Park plans to develop a system to use sea water air conditioning (SWAC) to support data center tenants. The concept taps deep water currents that bring colder water within two miles of Mauritius.
The Eco-Park plans to build a system of pipes that will extend two miles offshore and as much as 1,000 meters (3,200 feet) beneath the ocean surface, where the water is about 40 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees C). The cold water will be piped back to the data center complex and used in the facility's cooling system, eliminating the need for power-hungry chillers.
To date, this kind of water cooling hasn't been used in data centers, but there's no reason that it can't be deployed this way. Cornell University is already using the cold waters of nearby Lake Cayuga to replace the chillers used to provide cooling for its campus. It has reduced the university's energy use for cooling by 86 percent, and reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 20.6 million pounds a year. The city of Toronto uses a similar system.’ - www.greenercomputing.com
July 2009
GreenGlobe IT supports Green IT 2.0 agendas
Many companies have taken the first and obvious steps in using IT to reduce costs and make their business more environmentaly sound.
Virtualisation, thin clients and energy management are a few areas where we have seen huge progress, however the emergance of Green IT 2.0 is supporting radical shifts and changes in the way decision makers are running their organisations.
Over the coming 3rd and 4th quarters, GreenGlobe IT will be offering a more comprehensive set of solutions to support Green IT 2.0 initiatives.
‘We are responding to global issues facing our customers by introducing them to technologies which take Green IT to the next level, our services will help companies looking to green up other aspects of their business, these will include supply chain management and mobile working solutions.… green IT 1.0 exposed areas where huge savings could be made and in the current climate IT professionals keep looking for ways to reduce costs and deliver carbon reduction in a more profound manner.’
Marco de Sa’ – Managing Director of GreenGlobe IT.
June 2009
IT industry calls for £1bn green stimulus package
‘The IT industry is calling for £1bn from central government to invest in sustainable IT systems that will save the public sector money and reduce carbon emissions.
The Society for IT Management (Socitm) environmental charity Global Action Plan and supplier Logicalis have joined forces to rally support for the request, which will fund transformational IT projects.
The consortium held a meeting at the House of Commons yesterday hoping to garner support from local government IT directors and find out what the challenges might be when implementing changes.
They say the package will lead to £3bn of savings over three years and a 12% reduction in carbon emissions.
Steve Palmer, head of IT at the London Borough of Hillingdon and president of Socitm, said the drive to increase shared services across government had not worked as well as it needs to.
"We remain unconvinced that there are sufficiently innovative and imaginative solutions that capture the imaginations of our colleagues," he said.
The consortium said shared services have not worked because the right rewards are not in place to help drive a shared approach. "Whether that is local politics, budgets, or anything else, the current system is designed to drive local parochial decision making," Chris Gabriel, marketing and solutions director at Logicalis said.
He added that real changes in the economic and environmental efficiency of public sector IT systems will not materialise unless there is both a will to change the system and the money to make it work.
Procurement processes were identified as a potential barrier to the plan's success, as a lack of flexibility could cause problems. It was acknowledged that both the public and private sectors will have to make changes to the way they work - public sector bodies need to run commercial contracts with a more open minded approach, Palmer said, while private companies need to adapt to their clients' working culture more effectively.’
Rebecca Thomson - www.computerweekly.com
May 2009
Energy Star for Servers: Not Nearly Good Enough
‘There's good news and bad news about the just-released Energy Star ratings for servers. The good news is that it exists. The bad news is that it doesn't go nearly far enough.
The new EPA Energy Star program requires that any server to get the Energy Star label needs to adhere to a variety of energy-saving requirements. According to the EPA, here's what servers that can carry the label will include:
• Efficient power supplies that generate less waste heat, reducing the need for excess air conditioning in the facilities where they are housed;
• Improved power quality, which provides building-wide efficiency benefits;
• Capabilities to measure real time power use, processor utilization, and air temperature, which improves manageability and lowers total cost of ownership;
• Advanced power management features to save energy across various operating states; and
• A power and performance data sheet for purchasers that standardizes key information on energy performance, features and other capabilities.
The EPA claims that on average, those servers that can carry the label will be 30% more energy efficient than comparable non-Energy Star servers. The EPA also claims that if every server sold in the U.S. met Energy Star requirements, the energy savings would eventually be $800 million per year, and would eliminate the equivalent of the greenhouse gas emissions of more than 1 million vehicles.
All that is certainly good. But the Energy Star label doesn't nearly go far enough. As a start, it doesn't cover blade servers. Blade servers are at the core of virtualization projects, which can save dramatic amounts of energy and money. Many data centers that are going green go with blade servers rather than traditional servers. In fact, it's likely that you'd use more energy if you bought Energy Star-labeled servers than if you bought blade servers, which can't get the Energy Star label.
The other problem is that the Energy Star specifications measure server use when the server is idle. Servers, by their very nature, are not designed to be idle. If a server is idle, you don't need it. And there's not necessarily a correlation between a server's energy use when idle compared to when it's being heavily used.
The upshot? The Energy Star label for servers is less than useful. Andrew Fanara, who heads the Energy Star product programs, told Infoworld that the agency is currently at work on a Tier 2 specification which will measure server energy use when a server actually does work. That spec may be out by January. When that's out, it will certainly be a step forward. I'm hoping the EPA will tackle blades as well.’
Preson Gralla – www.greenercomputing.com
April 2009
Verdiem Helps Shrink PC Energy Use by 38 Percent
‘SEATTLE, Wash. -- Agencies in Washington State’s King County cut PC energy consumption by an average of 38 percent using Verdiem software, which powers down idle computers.
Seattle-based Verdiem’s Surveyor software was first installed in late 2007 on nearly 10,000 PCs in 18 King County departments, including the Department of Transportation and City Council. The software has cut energy costs in some departments by as much as 62 percent, saving the county $140,000.
According to Verdiem, a typical PC uses 535 kWh of electricity per year, about two-thirds of which is wasted when the computer isn’t in active use. The company claims Surveyor offers energy savings of up to $60 per PC annually.
King County previously used standard power management features included in PC operating systems, but that didn’t allow for detailed measurement needed for compliance with the county's Climate Plan. Surveyor offers detailed reports on energy consumption and savings based on regional electricity costs and pre- and post-Surveyor energy use comparisons.
King County, which encompasses Seattle, Redmond, and Bellevue, among other cities, isn’t the only one touting the benefits of the software.
Washington Mutual, which was acquired by Chase, installed the software on 44,000 of its PCs in 2007, according to CIO magazine. The company said last summer the move cut its PC-related greenhouse gas emissions by 65 percent and would likely save Washington Mutual $3 million annually.
The Lake Washington School District installed Surveyor on more than 12,000 PCs and expects $960,000 in energy cost savings over four years. City University of New York anticipates $2 million in savings from deploying Surveyor on more than 25,000 PCs on 15 campuses.’
www.greenercomputing.com
March 2009
Government sets out wildlife crime priorities
‘Birds of prey and a near-extinct shellfish are among the animals earmarked top priorities in a strengthened fight against wildlife crime in the coming year.
The freshwater pearl mussel, once widespread throughout Europe, is now extremely rare and outside of Britain and Ireland is found in less than 50 rivers worldwide, while birds of prey such as hen harriers are under threat from nest destruction and deliberate killing.
Wildlife Minister Huw Irranca-Davies has set out the government’s wildlife crime priorities for 2009-2010, including poaching, crimes against bats and the illegal trade in endangered species, and urged people to help combat the criminals.
Police and customs officers will work with the National Wildlife Crime Unit, conservationists, countryside groups, wildlife traders and owners to focus on the new priorities, which are based on the numbers of crimes or the effect crime is having on the future of a species.’ - www.ecozine.co.uk
February 2009
GreenGlobe IT becomes Preton channel partner
By becoming channel partners, GreenGlobe IT are offering their expanding customer base the PretonSaver comprehensive print management software for management and control of printer fleets. The software combines printer management, optimization of toner and ink, management information reports and rule-based printing into a single print management solution. PretonSaver contributes to savings of up to 50% of the print cost of companies.
With PretonSaver companies can reduce their consumables spending by up to 50%, apply print rules on users, groups, applications and printers, manage the printer fleet efficiently and have a complete overview of the print resource.
January 2009
Worldwatch highlights “catastrophic disruption”
‘The world will have to reduce emissions more drastically than has been widely predicted, essentially ending the emission of carbon dioxide by 2050 to avoid catastrophic disruption to the world’s climate, according to State of the World 2009: Into a Warming World, released today by the Worldwatch Institute. Yet opportunities abound in renewable energy and efficiency improvements, agriculture and forestry, and the resilience of societies for slowing and managing climate change, according to the book’s 47 authors.
Worldwatch vice president for programs, Robert Engelman, project co-director for State of the World 2009, says: “We’re privileged to live at a moment in history when we can still avert a climate catastrophe that would leave the planet hostile to human development and well-being. But there’s not much time left. Sealing the deal to save the global climate will require mass public support and worldwide political will to shift to renewable energy, new ways of living, and a human scale that matches the atmosphere’s limits.”
Into a Warming World, the 26th edition of the State of the World series, addresses the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as prepare to adapt to climate change. The Earth’s average temperature has already risen by more than 0.80 Celsius (1.40F) since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the mid-18th century, with much of that increase attributed to human activities.’ - 4ecotips.
December 2008
Cartridge World says ‘ Plant a Tree NOT a Cartridge ‘
Cartridge World is encouraging its customers to create greener communities by joining with its stores throughout the UK to celebrate National Tree Week.
Cartridge World is planning to plant a tree for every 25 refilled or remanufactured printer cartridges it sells during National Tree Week - by encouraging its customers to ‘Plant a Tree NOT a Cartridge’. Its (participating) stores are now inviting nominations for trees from local schools, charities, nursing homes, parks and churches - or anywhere where the new trees will benefit the community.
National Tree Week runs from Wednesday, November 26 to Sunday, December 7, 2008. During this time, Cartridge World estimates it will prevent a minimum of 80,000 cartridges from being ‘planted’ in landfill. As a result, at least 3,000 local organisations could soon be benefitting from the new trees.
Mark Holland, UK General Manager for Cartridge World, said: “Everyone can support the ‘Plant a Tree NOT a Cartridge’ campaign. All you have to do is have your empty cartridges refilled at your nearest Cartridge World store.
“The credit crunch could well limit corporate social responsibility schemes in the coming year. We’re hoping many businesses will get involved, using this as an opportunity to work with the local Cartridge World store to the benefit of their community.” - www.recycle.co.uk
November 2008
Sea-Level Rise May Be Greater Than Expected
‘Deutsche-Presse Agentur reports that scientists with the Potsdam Institute for Research on Global Warming Effects came to their results using new data that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change did not have access to.
Among the new findings: Arctic ice loss has doubled or tripled since 2005.
One of the scientists, Hans-Joachim Schellnhuber, director of the institute and an adviser to German chancellor Angela Merkel, said that it is "just barely possible" that global governments, if they drastically reduce carbon emissions, will be able to limit climate change.
He also told Bloomburg News last month that there was a 50 percent chance of capping global warming to just 3.6 degrees by 2100, which, according to his findings, would avoid the brunt of the ecological damage.
Schellnhuber warned that since air pollution from cars and power plants inadvertently have a cooling effect, cutting pollution must be matched by deep cuts in carbon dioxide emissions, so as not to raise rather than lower temperatures.’ - www.newsdesk.org
October 2008
VMWARE, THINSPACE and other programs
GreenGlobe IT becomes an authorized VMWARE service provider and Thinspace channel partner. With clients including public sector organisations, local authorities and multinationals across sectors, we are delivering cost savings and reducing carbon footprints through effective use of IT.
September 2008
GreenGlobe IT Egnytes
GreenGlobe IT joins forces with Egnyte to provide on demand file servers and storage to small businesses and professionals who need capacity and effective mobile working. Egnyte provides businesses with quick and cost-effective online data storage to store and share growing volume of files. With Egnyte, users get an online file server, without the need to buy any hardware or incur ongoing maintenance costs. A financially green solution for small business.
August 2008
GreenGlobe IT is Given a Voice
The Federation of Small Businesses U.K feature GreenGlobe IT in the ‘Voice of Business’ magazine. The article was appropriately titled ‘SMEs and Green IT – get on the boat!’ and was written by GreenGlobe IT Managing Director, Marco de Sa’.
‘Just over a year ago, the debate of cleaning up carbon footprints was limited to specialist groups, whilst today it is on everybody’s agenda.
Government, the media and regulatory bodies are discussing the issue.
Over the last year, IT operations have moved into the spotlight – particularly with larger corporations who have become objects of focus with their power hungry data centre’s and their thousands of desktop computers and network peripherals…it has become clear that this is an area in which definite and measured energy reductions can be delivered, and it has been realized that IT can be used in ways to reduce other energy use, the reduction of travel through to tele-conferencing is one example. There is another factor which is increasing the pressure for energy efficient IT, the cost of energy in the UK is rising sharply, and the price of hardware continues to fall – affecting the cost balance
.
For smaller companies – there are huge gains to be made by going green and the easiest way to begin is through IT. Your business will improve – it’s that simple;
For starters - Not only will efficiency be increased by putting in place an effective and affordable solution, but your energy bill would be significantly reduced (around £150.00 per computer per year ), and you could use this money elsewhere in the business – to cover fuel costs for example.
Many companies now have a corporate social responsibility practice whose role is to mitigate the social and environmental impacts of the organization – as awareness grows, environmental strategy is becoming a larger part of an organizations brand image and value. What does this mean for smaller businesses that depend on business from big companies? Well, part of the environmental strategy of larger corporations often includes aligning themselves with suppliers and partners who have a green agenda, as a small business – if you don’t go green, you might lose out – if not now, certainly in the future – Being green, boosts your image.
In conclusion:
The main drivers behind green IT are the following:
- The environment
- Economic sense
- Social responsibility
- Legislation
As a small business, you in a unique position to go green quicker than most, and by starting with IT, you will be able to start measuring the results and enjoying the rewards. Better efficiency, lower costs, and recognized for your socially responsibility … there is so much to gain.’
July 2008
Home Internetting gets Greener!
GreenGlobe IT launches its green home internet machine bundle, by offering at £259.00 a complete low energy internet solution for home users. The Netvoyager LX1010, bundled with a 17’ LCD screen, keyboard and mouse is ideal for home internet browsing for users who require pure internet computing. It is low on energy and CO2, and the cost of the unit can be recovered in just over a year on energy bills alone. The lifespan of thin clients are longer than typical home pcs. Overall cost and environmental savings for the home.
June 2008
Greener Printing
GreenGlobe IT expands its recycling services to include refilling of printer toners and cartridges, and the recycling of printer fuser kits and drums.
Each year in the UK, millions of toners and cartridges are thrown away to landfill sites causing land contamination and unnecessary waste.
Refilling toners and cartridges brings significant savings to businesses and households alike. Quick growth in this industry over the last 2 years has supported vast improvements in the quality of refilled toners and cartridges, ensuring excellent print quality.
May 2008
How Green is Your House?
GreenGlobe IT provides green IT strategy for South Cheshire Housing. By taking a look at the infrastructure and setting reduction targets, a consolidation program is put in place, and the server virtualization project powered by VMWARE is initiated. The thin client roll out begins and progress and savings begin to be measured.
A WEEE recycling scheme started with 1 ton of redundant electronic equipment safely recycled.
The nature of the project and the savings to be made were communicated to all 250 members of staff to rally excitement and support for the changes.
Several tons of CO2 reduced, and many thousands of pounds of reduced cost later – the Housing Association continues to reap the rewards. A CSR success story.
‘We agree that having a green strategy that involves the entire business and its people will make it a success. By creating a green agenda which operates from the heart of the business, South Cheshire Housing are using Green IT as a tool to drive the company into a greater state of awareness and responsibility, thereby setting an example in the community – and at the same time – saving money through effective and efficient IT.’
Marco de Sa’ - Managing Director of GreenGlobe IT.
April 2008
A Small Business Green IT Success Story
GreenGlobe IT puts in place its own ‘off the shelf’ small business green IT solution.
A typical small business with 5 employees was rescued from scalability problems and adopted an efficient and far more effective IT solution. The solution is designed and supported by GreenGlobe IT using Netvoyager thin clients on the desktop, and a hosted off site virtual server and can be applied with minimal tweaking to almost any small business/start up.
The Small Publishing firm based in the north west of England was able to control their network with proper file management and security, whilst remaining cost effective and energy efficient.
They migrated from 5 non standardized pcs operating loosely within a workgroup, and 1 pc acting as a server, to 5 thin clients and a hosted virtual server in a managed secure data centre.
With savings of around £150 per desktop per year on energy bills alone, and with increased efficiency and a solution to be proud of, they were thrilled with the affordable green it solution.
