22 June 2016

There is an increasing demand for digital devices, more connected devices and digital information sources. Businesses are using cloud technology to store their data and reduce their energy consumption… but is this a sustainable solution?

Most of the energy consumed whilst using digital devices is not apparent. Not only do you need to charge your mobile phone, but you also use energy while you are checking your emails, browsing the internet or watching videos or movies online, that is not directly linked to the devices you are using.

Using a ‘’cloud” means that you use a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer. Information on those systems or on the Internet is stored in datacentres somewhere around the world.

From the servers in your business to the datacentre you use when you use internet search engines, all this IT consumes energy. This equipment needs energy to work but also energy to cool them down.

It has been estimated that data centres that power digital services are responsible for 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This is the same amount consumed per year by air travel.

One of the biggest Internet provider’s carbon footprint was reported to be 1,766,014 tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2013. This is equivalent to 371,792 passenger vehicles driven for one year.  

On the bright side, some of those biggest IT companies are taking this into account.

In 2009, Greenpeace started its Cool IT campaign calling IT companies to “drive green energy innovation, champion more efficient operations, and by 2010, to seek green, renewable sources of power for the proliferation of data centres.”

There is room for innovation and creativity in this field. With an exponential reliance on digital devices, new solutions are needed.

Is your business improving its IT energy consumption? Have you found an innovative way to reduce your energy consumption?

At VIBES we are always eager to hear from companies that are developing new ways or implementing new practices in their business to help reduce the effect on the environment and increase sustainability.

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