[attachment=9306]
Summary
The biggest challenge facing the environment today is
global warming, caused by carbon emissions. About 98
percent of CO2 emissions (or 87 percent of all CO2–
equivalent emissions from all greenhouse gases) can be
directly attributed to energy consumption, according
to a report by the Energy Information Administration
(see Resources). Many organizations today are speaking
openly about a desire to operate in a “green” manner,
publishing principles for environmental practices and
sustainability on their corporate Web. In addition, many
companies are now paying (or will pay in the near
future) some kind of carbon tax for the resources they
consume and the environmental impact of the products
and services they produce, so a reduction in energy
consumed can have a real financial payback.
In this article, we focus on reduction in energy
consumption over the full equipment life cycle as the
prime motivator for “green” application design, with
energy reduction as the best measure of “green-ness.” Our
sole motivation is reducing energy consumption, without
regard to economic impact. However, we do observe that
improving energy efficiency will also reduce economic
costs, as energy costs are a significant contributor to the
life-cycle cost of a data center, but this happy coincidence is
not explored further in the paper
Green computing:
Green computing or green IT, refers to environmentally sustainable computing or IT. It is "the study and practice of designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, servers, and associated subsystems—such as monitors, printers, storage devices, and networking and communications systems—efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact on the environment. Green IT also strives to achieve economic viability and improved system performance and use, while abiding by our social and ethical responsibilities. Thus, green IT includes the dimensions of environmental sustainability, the economics of energy efficiency, and the total cost of ownership, which includes the cost of disposal and recycling. It is the study and practice of using computing resources efficiently."[1]
With increasing recognition that man-made greenhouse gas emissions are a major contributing factor to global warming, enterprises, governments, and society at large now have an important new agenda: tackling environmental issues and adopting environmentally sound practices. Greening our IT products, applications, services, and practices is both an economic and an environmental imperative, as well as our social responsibility.[2] Therefore, a growing number of IT vendors and users are moving toward green IT and thereby assisting in building a green society and economy.
The goals of green computing are similar to green chemistry; reduce the use of hazardous materials, maximize energy efficiency during the product's lifetime, and promote recyclability or biodegradability of defunct products and factory waste.
Green computing researchers look at key issues and topics related to energy efficiency in computing and promoting environmentally friendlycomputer technologies and systems include energy-efficient use of computers, design of algorithms and systems for environmentally-friendly computer technologies, and wide range of related topics.
Roads to Green Computing
To comprehensively and effectively address the environmental impacts of computing/IT, we must adopt a holistic approach and make the entire IT lifecycle greener by addressing environmental sustainability along the following four complementary paths:[1]
Green use — reducing the energy consumption of computers and other information systems as well as using them in an environmentally sound manner
Green disposal — refurbishing and reusing old computers and properly recycling unwanted computers and other electronic equipment
Green design — designing energy-efficient and environmentally sound components, computers, servers, cooling equipment, and data centers
Green manufacturing — manufacturing electronic components, computers, and other associated subsystems with minimal impact on the environment
These four paths span a number of focus areas and activities, including:[1]
design for environmental sustainability
energy-efficient computing
power management
data center design, layout, and location
server virtualization
responsible disposal and recycling
regulatory compliance
green metrics, assessment tools, and methodology
environment-related risk mitigation
use of renewable energy sources and
eco-labeling of IT products
Modern IT systems rely upon a complicated mix of people, networks and hardware; as such, a green computing initiative must be systemic in nature, and address increasingly sophisticated problems. Elements of such a solution may comprise items such as end user satisfaction, management restructuring, regulatory compliance, disposal of electronic waste, telecommuting, virtualization of server resources, energy use,thin client solutions, and return on investment (ROI).
The imperative for companies to take control of their power consumption, for technology and more generally, therefore remains acute. One of the most effective power management tools available in 2009 may still be simple, plain, common sense.
Origins
In 1992, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched Energy Star, a voluntary labeling program which is designed to promote and recognize energy-efficiency in monitors, climate control equipment, and other technologies. This resulted in the widespread adoption of sleep mode among consumer electronics. The term "green computing" was probably coined shortly after the Energy Star program began; there are several USENET posts dating back to 1992 which use the term in this manner.[4] Concurrently, the Swedish organization TCO Development launched the TCO Certification program to promote low magnetic and electrical emissions from CRT-based computer displays; this program was later expanded to include criteria on energy consumption, ergonomics, and the use of hazardous materials in construction
Regulations and industry initiatives
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published a survey of over 90 government and industry initiatives on "Green ICTs", i.e. information and communication technologies, the environment and climate change. The report concludes that initiatives concentrate on greening ICTs rather than tackling global warming and environmental degradation through the use of ICT applications. In general, only 20% of initiatives have measurable targets, with government programmes including them more frequently than business associations.
Government
Many governmental agencies have continued to implement standards and regulations that encourage green computing. TheEnergy Star program was revised in October 2006 to include stricter efficiency requirements for computer equipment, along with a tiered ranking system for approved products.[7][8] The European Union's directives 2002/95/EC (RoHS), on the reduction of hazardous substances, and 2002/96/EC (WEEE) on waste electrical and electronic equipment required the substitution of heavy metals and flame retardants like PBBs and PBDEs in all electronic equipment put on the market starting on July 1, 2006. The directives placed responsibility on manufacturers for the gathering and recycling of old equipment (the Producer Responsibility model).[9]
There are currently 26 US States that have established state-wide recycling programs for obsolete computers and consumer electronics equipment.[10] The statutes either impose a fee for each unit sold at retail (Advance Recovery Fee model), or require the manufacturers to reclaim the equipment at disposal (Producer Responsibility model).
Industry
Climate Savers Computing Initiative (CSCI) is an effort to reduce the electric power consumption of PCs in active and inactive states.[11] The CSCI provides a catalog of green products from its member organizations, and information for reducing PC power consumption. It was started on 2007-06-12. The name stems from the World Wildlife Fund's Climate Savers program, which was launched in 1999.[12] The WWF is also a member of the Computing Initiative.[11]
Green Computing Impact Organization, Inc. (GCIO) is a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting the end-users of computing products in being environmentally responsible. This mission is accomplished through educational events, cooperative programs and subsidized auditing services. The heart of the group is based on the GCIO Cooperative, a community of environmentally concerned IT leaders who pool their time, resources, and buying power to educate, broaden the use, and improve the efficiency of, green computing products and services. Members work to increase the ROI of green computing products through a more thorough understanding of real measurable and sustainable savings incurred by peers; enforcing a greater drive toward efficiency of vendor products by keeping a community accounting of savings generated; and through group negotiation power.
Green Electronics Council-- The Green Electronics Council offers the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) to assist in the purchase of "green" computing systems. The Council evaluates computing equipment on 28 criteria that measure a product's efficiency and sustainability attributes. On 2007-01-24, President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13423, which requires all United States Federal agencies to use EPEAT when purchasing computer systems.[13][14]
The Green Grid is a global consortium dedicated to advancing energy efficiency in data centers and business computing ecosystems. It was founded in February 2007 by several key companies in the industry – AMD, APC, Dell, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Rackable Systems,SprayCool, Sun Microsystems and VMware. The Green Grid has since grown to hundreds of members, including end users and government organizations, all focused on improving data center efficiency.
International Professional Practice Partnership (IP3) is a programme of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) for global certification of ICT professionals. The program includes certification in Green ICT Strategies, using a curriculum developed by theAustralian Computer Society.
The Green500 list rates supercomputers by energy efficiency (megaflops/watt, encouraging a focus on efficiency rather than absolute performance.
Green Comm Challenge is an organization that promotes the development of energy conservation technology and practices in the field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Green Comm Challenge achieved worldwide notoriety in 2007, when it enlisted as one of the challengers in the 33rd edition of the America's Cup, an effort meant to show how researchers, technologists and entrepreneurs from around the world can be brought together by an exciting vision: building the ultimate renewable energy machine, a competitive America’s Cup boat.
Approaches to green computing
Algorithmic efficiency
The efficiency of algorithms has an impact on the amount of computer resources required for any given computing function and there are many efficiency trade-offs in writing programs. As computers have become more numerous and the cost of hardware has declined relative to the cost of energy, the energy efficiency and environmental impact of computing systems and programs has received increased attention. A study by Alex Wissner-Gross, a physicist at Harvard, estimated that the average Google search released 7 grams of carbon dioxide (CO₂).[15] However, Google disputes this figure, arguing instead that a typical search produces only 0.2 grams of CO₂.[16] Algorithms can also be used to route data to data centers where electricity is less expensive. MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, and Akamai project up to a 40 percent savings on energy costs.[17]