"Green IT", or "IT for Green"?

The Green IT concept emerged three years ago as a way to talk about the positive impact that IT could have on our environment. It is possible through telepresence or videoconferencing, hardware virtualization, and highly polluting industries could also install telepresence rooms to speak of their environmental efforts.

 

In some countries there is a carbon tax which force big companies to publish a carbon report, identify the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and take concrete measures to limit these emissions.

These measures will make us move from "Green IT" to "IT for Green" because of a great contribution from information systems to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

In practice, there are three kinds of initiatives:

1) Limiting emissions within IT departments, the main goal is to implement technology developed in the fields of virtualization.

2) Savings in other areas through the use of information technology. For example, a consumer goods manufacturer can cut its CO2 emissions by replacing international flights with telepresence sessions to communicate with its major sites. Another example could be a ground transportation firm which can save in fuel by optimizing logistics.

3) The installation of systems for measuring greenhouse gas emissions.


Green IT has arrived at a turning point. No longer simply something to talk about when discussing sustainable development, it's now becoming a critical tool for companies who plan to set up a coherent and quantifiable strategy for limiting greenhouse gas emissions.


I will conclude by saying that “Green IT” is dead but I hope that “IT for Green” will have a long life!