Green IT—More Than a Three Percent Solution?
by Stephen Ruth
Information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure accounts for roughly 3 percent of global electricity usage and the same percentage of greenhouse gasses (GHGs), but it seems to have a far greater role in the green debate than that. Many of the solutions being introduced for reducing the carbon footprint via more efficient energy use worldwide are heavily dependent on IT—for example, improvements in the power grid, “energy-smart” buildings and cities, and so on. Here, I examine green issues and solutions in IT infrastructure and give a brief history behind green computing.
