Sustainability is already part of the strategy of most organizations today. The changes it entails represent an effort that benefits the environment, society and the business itself. Learn about the power of green technology as a source of savings for your company.
Waste and waste management is a reality for most citizens, so, logically, it is the consumers who are demanding the same behaviour from companies. The market is taking note, and sustainability, digital transformation and cybersecurity are the main priorities of organizations.
Evolving towards green ICTs is essential to the fight against climate change. On the one hand, according to data from the analyst Enerdata, information and communication technologies generate emissions that account for between 5% and 9% of global electricity consumption. And on the other hand, data from the United Nations Environmental Program indicate that up to 50 million tons of electronic and electrical waste are generated each year, of which only 20% is recycled correctly.
ICT carbon emissions
These figures appeal directly to ICT manufacturers and users, so Enerdata’s projection that their electricity consumption will account for 21% of the world’s consumption by 2030 still needs to be met. The impact of manufacturing new hardware on carbon emissions is indisputable. In this scenario, the objective of technological sustainability must be directed in two directions: reduce production thanks to the extension of the useful life of IT resources and drastically reduce energy consumption thanks to the application of innovative ICT solutions.
This commitment concerns all organizations, from large IT vendors or cloud hyper scalers to SMEs and government agencies.
More and more companies are convinced of the advantages of the circular economy in IT, so reusing, sharing or recycling equipment are understood as actions that help increase their profitability.
How to build a sustainable cpd
In the green IT strategy of companies, the data centre is a critical piece. Incorporating sustainable technologies in data centres ensures environmental efficiency and reduced energy costs.
Today, numerous resources allow updating the IT infrastructure and building a sustainable CPD. Some recommended actions are:
- Replace traditional magnetic disk (HDD) storage with Flash (SSD) storage solutions to consume less power.
- Opt for low-consumption servers and systems.
- Virtualize servers to make better use of processor capacity.
- Establish active-active environments as a disaster recovery strategy.
- Incorporate new air conditioning technologies such as liquid cooling for servers.
Reuse, Repair, Refurbishment and Recycling of it resources
This sustainable approach to ICT makes it possible to reduce the purchase of new resources and promotes the reuse of equipment replaced by other less demanding environments, such as development, testing or training. And, if they cannot be reused, their responsible recycling makes it possible for the usable parts to be used by IT providers to offer refurbished systems with guarantees, giving them a second life.
The IT industry’s commitment to sustainability ensures that more and more repairable equipment is placed on the market outside the dictatorship of planned obsolescence. Maintenance commitments have accompanied it over X years.
A very important aspect of exercising IT recycling without problems is assigning it to trusted companies with the appropriate certificates and industry regulations, such as the European Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment. This issue is very important because it is the only way to ensure that any private data that may have remained in the systems is destroyed with full guarantees.
Also Read: New Technologies And Digital Interfaces For A More Connected Future