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GreenerComputing.com: Information Technology, without the Byte
My colleagues and I at Greener World Media are pleased to announce the launch of GreenerComputing.com, the latest addition to the GreenBiz family of sites and e-newsletters.
GreenerComputing -- along with its companion e-newsletter, GreenerComputing News -- is a free news and resource center on the greening of information technology. Over the past few years, the environmental issues associated with IT have grown, as I've covered in previous posts: The energy use of computers, server farms, and other paraphernalia of the digital age; the hazardous ingredients of much IT equipment, and the efforts to restrict or eliminate them; and the e-waste problem -- what to do with the millions of used gizmos once we've moved on to the Next Cool Thing.
All of which will be part of GreenerComputing's daily menu of editorial fare.
In the site's inaugural feature story, managing editor Matthew Wheeland looks into Google's efforts to reduce the environmental impacts of its vast computing empire. Wheeland found that Google is looking very closely at a resource that most companies already have, but may not be using: a computer's power-management software.
Simply activating the power-save features on a fleet of corporate desktops -- which in Google's case could be as high as 12,000 computers for its employees worldwide -- can save 50 or 60 percent of the energy wasted when computers are left on, and idle, for 16 hours a day.These features -- like dimming the monitor, spinning down the hard disks, putting the drive to sleep -- have been standard features on laptops from the beginning, but they're also regular features of most desktop computers made in the last few years.
But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found that only a tiny fraction of computers -- as low as 5 percent -- actually use these power management features. When they do, it's worth it. In one case study, General Electric saved $6.5 million in electricity costs a year simply by changing computers' settings.
There are also columns by Fortune magazine writer Marc Gunther and U.K. technology journalist James Murray, along with scores of tools and other resources to help organization's lighten their computing footprint.
I encourage you to stop by GreenerComputing.com and check out what's there -- and to share it with those in your organization who may be seeking ways that computers, printers, servers, and other electronics can take a little less byte from the earth.
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May 9, 2007 in Business Practices, State of the Art | Permalink
Comments
Here's a ridiculously simple suggestion for consumer electronics: Buy a cheap power strip and turn it off when you're not watching or listening- virtually all electronic devices draw power when turned 'off'.
I'd like to see the option of wall switches or outlets with remote controls that turn the power off at the source. Most people aren't aware that their devices are always on even when off. Of course we'd need battery backup for all those LED clocks.
Just a thought. Congrats on the new site.
Posted by: Martin Edic | May 10, 2007 8:42:22 AM
Joel:
This is a great idea. Greencomputing is becoming big.
Will follow this.
Cheers,
Suhit
Posted by: Suhit Anantula | May 10, 2007 8:14:02 PM
The production of billions of disposable razors comes at a cost-- increased CO2 emissions into the environment. Woah. There goes another
glacier. Landfills are filling up, too.
Razor Gator has a new product named:
Razor Extender a disposable razor cleaning tool which makes razors last up to 10 weeks! while reducing razor burn and rash. Razor
Extender is a deep green product, so using it makes the world a better place. Don’t throw away your razors–Rejuvenate them with Razor
Gator. See more at www.Razor-Gator.com
Posted by: rg | May 17, 2007 7:27:58 AM
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