03-05-2013, 02:58 PM
A Greener Approach to Computing
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Abstract
In today’s’ climate, it is difficult to ignore the ongoing concerns about climate change and the environment and whereas there appear to be no easy solutions for businesses, the IT community can have a significant impact on the worldwide carbon footprint by adopting a ‘greener’ approach to computing .Green computing is rising energy costs and potential savings. Energy to manufacture, store, operate, and cool computing systems has grown significantly in the recent years, primarily due to the volume of systems and computing that companies now heavily rely upon. This paper describes about history of green computing, need of the green computing and future of the green computing. The primary objective of such a program is to account for the triple efficiently bottom line (or "People, Planet, Profit").
INTRODUCTION What is Green Computing?
Green computing is the environmentally responsible use of computers and related resources [1] such practices include the implementation of energy-efficient central processing units (CPUs), servers and peripherals as well as reduced resource consumption and proper disposal of electronic waste (e-waste). Green computing 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 [2] It is important to understand and the need of the study of green computing. Green computing is a very hot topic these days, not only because of rising energy costs and potential savings, but also due to the impact on the environment. Energy to manufacture, store, operate, and cool computing systems has grown significantly in the recent years, primarily due to the volume of systems and computing that companies now heavily rely upon. Green IT strives to improve company performance and efficiency whilst offering an attractive economical saving and as such there are no real re asons as to why we shouldn‟t all be adopting a „greener‟ approach to our processes
A BRIEF HISTORY OF GREEN COMPUTING
One of the earliest initiatives toward green computing in the United States was the voluntary labeling program known as Energy Star. It was conceived by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1992 to promote energy efficiency in hardware of all kinds. The Energy Star label became a common sight, especially in notebook computers and displays. Virtualization practices, e-waste, etc. Similar programs have been adopted in Europe and Asia.
Energy Star served as a kind of voluntary label awarded to computing products that succeeded in minimizing use of energy while maximizing efficiency. Energy Star applied to products like computer monitors, television sets and temperature control devices like refrigerators, air conditioners, and similar items. One of the first results of green computing was the Sleep mode function of computer monitors which places a consumer's electronic equipment on standby mode.
NEED OF GREEN COMPUTING
It is observed that most of the computer energy is often wasteful. This is because we leave the Computer ON even when it is not in use. The CPU and fan consume power; screen savers consume power even when the system is not in use. Insufficient power and cooling capacities can also results in loss of energy. It is observed that most of the data centers don‟t have sufficient cooling capacities. This result in environment pollution. This could be because of defects in Manufacturing techniques, packaging, disposal of computers and components. Another effect is because of toxicity. Computing power consumption of companies has reached a critical point. For example, an Ecommerce business with 100,000 servers can easily spend up to $20 million a year on server power.
Reduce Paper Consumption
There are many easy, obvious ways to reduce paper consumption: e-mail, electronic archiving, use the “track changes” feature in electronic documents, rather than redline corrections on paper. When you do print out documents, make sure to use both sides of the paper, recycle regularly, use smaller fonts and margins, and selectively print required pages. Conserve energy. Turn off your computer when you know you won‟t use it for an extended period of time. Turn on power management features during shorter periods of inactivity. Power management allows monitors and computers to enter low-power states when sitting idle. By simply hitting the keyboard or moving the mouse, the computer or monitors awakens from its low power sleep mode in seconds. Power management tactics can save energy and help protect the environment. Corporate social and environmental performance, manufacturers must offer safe end-of-life management and recycling options when products become unusable.
FUTURE OF GREEN COMPUTING
Technology is ever-changing and expanding and so any device which is new today will become obsolete tomorrow. Thanks to the advancements happening in the area of information technology, new computers enter the market and soon remain nothing more than a piece of junk. This is precisely why a new area of computing has emerged, which is popularly known as Green Computing. The technology encourages people to use computers as well as accessories that are environmentally-friendly and that cause little or no harm to the environment during their usage or when they are disposed off.
Recyclable paper laptop
One of the most environmentally friendly computers that you can think of purchasing is the Recyclable Paper Laptop. This concept laptop is crafted from papers that have been recycled or pulp materials that are essentially packed in layers. Consumers, especially tech geeks keep looking for newer and latest models of computer and junk the old machines by dropping them into landfills. This further adds to the e-waste items. By purchasing the Recyclable paper laptop, you won‟t have to worry about repairing it as well as it is comparatively easier than the traditional laptops. Besides, the damaged parts of these laptops can be easily replaced with newer ones and then sent across for recycling.
EVO PC Concept
The EVO PC that is made from materials that are sustainable as well helps a great deal when it comes to reducing carbon footprint in comparison to the traditional computers. This system consists of two primary parts including the EVO Base unit and the EVO Client. The best part about these systems is that all upgrade, maintenance and support related tasks for the PC is done through remote server. This unique PC concept meets all the key environmental issues that are emerging from the usage of today‟s computers. While the EVO Client is 99 percent smaller in size it also has 96 percent less mass in comparison to the traditional desktop PC. This helps in reducing the material, energy and packaging that is required at the time of production and transportation of the product to the end customer.
Conclusion
it is evident that in today‟s climate, it is increasingly expected of companies to manage the impact that business process can have on the environment. The good news is that through modern technology, such as the Aquaforest suite of products, we can adopt greener IT processes which not only have an efficient and economic benefit to an organization, but will also fulfill the brief for the corporate and social responsibilities we all share Many governments worldwide have initiated energy-management programs, such as Energy Star, an international standard for energy-efficient electronic equipment that was created by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and has now been adopted by several other countries. Now we have future of Green computing .There is lot of technique with green computing .By using these technique we can save energy, pollution and any type of wastage in IT and environment.