IT for Earth Where do we stand today

Just a few days back, ASUS launched its much awaited eco friendly Bamboo
Series Notebook in India. In another recent study, companies like Wipro, Sony,
and Apple were tagged positively green for their efforts and products in view of
environmental impact.

Companies like HP, Lenovo and Dell were penalized for negligence in the guide
to greener electronics but were commended as some of these companies products
that are free from hazardous chemicals.

All this sounds green and positive.

Grim Realities

It was projected by the US Environmental Protection Agency ENERGY STAR
Program that unless energy efficiency was improved, the federal governments
electricity cost for servers and data centers could touch a peak load of
approximately 1.2 gw by 2011.

Coming to other grim reality, e-waste has continued to haunt green cautious
segments. As per a global forecast from electronic waste recovery business,
between 2004-09, the average annual growth rate for e-waste market in recycled
silica was 7.5 %, for other recycled technologies was 7.3 % and for recycled
plastic was 10.2 %.

The market for post-consumer recycled materials from electronics will be
strong over the next five years. The largest driver of growth will be the
regulatory-driven onus on OEMs to manage hazardous waste materials from
cradle-to-grave. Recent technological advancements have provided manufacturers
with less toxic material choices and more cost-effective ways to recover
electronic circuitry and associated equipment. But theres a lot to catch up on.

Manufacturers are using less toxic materials, employing more LED displays and
recycling more, but a Greenpeace study finds that the consumer electronics
industry is far better at making green claims than green products.

As Brikesh Singh, climate campaigner, Greenpeace Bangalore reckons, India has
developed a lot in the last two decades, even if it stands at less than 2 tonne
per annum in consumption levels against 16 tonne per annum for a country like
US. Today white goods and Gadgets are no more a luxury and a Plasma in our
drawing room guzzles the same energy impact as a SUV on the road. Theres no
need to go back to the stone age though. We need to radically look at how we
consume as much as we need to look on how we produce.

Between the 1990s to today, we have progressed a lot in lifestyle and
consumption but at the same time, we have reached a point of no return on the
impact on earth, he stresses.

However, IT industry, which contributes only about 2% to carbon emissions
directly, has a bigger and more positive role than what has been seen so far. A
lot of companies are on track and trying to be proactive, as Singh acknowledges,
but its time to think beyond Green IT. Its time for IT for green. IT, with
its gigantic potential, technology power and brain edge can do a lot in devising
futuristic earth-friendly solutions for todays problems. A good example is the
smart metering system for power usage that I guess Infosys is working on.

In his view, India has an upper hand and opportunity in comparison to Europe
and the US. India is beautifully placed in terms of geography and resources.
They have gone far ahead. We do not need to compromise on our lifestyles much
and at the same time IT can harness its best brains for addressing energy
problems. India can see a greener and revolutionary energy mix shift if that
happens.

As Singh sums up, the situation may look beyond control but its time for
real action. Its time for IT to look at the earth in a new way.

Pratima Harigunani

maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in