The subject of "being green" can create emotions akin to those that bubble up when talking politics or religion. It can quickly devolve into talks on the melting ice caps and diminishing polar bear habitats, which may or may not be productive. The difference is "green" has a definite role in business, while politics and religion are probably best left outside the board room. Why does "green" matter? Setting aside issues around climate change - which is often where religious debates occur - from a practical standpoint, there are real business implications.
For starters, energy is a non-trivial operating expense, so reducing energy consumption can help reduce costs and free up resources that can go straight to the bottom line or applied to revenue-driving initiatives. In that same vein, when an organization pays attention to its energy consumption it is often able to identify and then rectify cascading operational inefficiencies. Organizations may find that the legacy equipment or hodge-podge of devices that have proliferated over time present opportunities not only to reduce energy consumption, but also better leverage resources and maximize investments overall. By retiring equipment, integrating devices and collapsing layers in the infrastructure, organizations can achieve economies of space, power and cooling, as well as the simplification of their operations that reduces ongoing maintenance and management costs. And considering it is estimated that most IT departments spend 70 percent of their time on "lights on" activities, it's easy to see the impact that any resource savings can have in tipping the scales toward greater innovation. Pending legislation is most likely going to force businesses to pay attention to "green" issues, whether they want to or not. In Japan, which has committed to achieving carbon dioxide emissions 6 percent below 1990 levels by 2010, businesses have already been adjusting to operating under carbon caps, which often relates to their overall energy consumption. And there are plenty of indications that the new U.S. administration will create legislation to force emissions reductions, whether it is a cap and trade system, a carbon tax or some other mechanism is still to be determined. (See Environmental Leader for a good summary on some of the proposed legislation.) Finally, there is the non-trivial people aspect of being "green." The fact is to attract and retain top talent, companies need to be mindful of their impacts on the environment and do what they can to reduce them. No one wants to work for "that monster" of a company that's known for dumping waste into the river. For those companies that don't do their own manufacturing, it may seem as though there is little at stake, but employees and customers are increasingly mindful of how an organization monitors and manages all of their impacts. These include those under their direct control, within their own four walls, and those that are part of their extended influence, such as partners and those organizations that make up their supply, manufacturing and distribution chains. Don't believe it really matters? Just ask someone from "generation Y" and you will most likely get a diatribe on how important it is to work for a company you can respect and that respects the world we all share. Just look at the study of MBA grads - the very bastion of business and enterprise - which found that a vast majority (97 percent) said, all things equal, they would forgo some financial compensation to work at a company they believed to be more socially conscious and responsible. So, like it or not, to be competitive, businesses are going to need to be mindful of "green" and have some of the hard discussions around how they are going to approach their impacts, tackle potential problems and work to leave the world they operate in just as they found it, or better yet - improve it. And for the record, I like it!
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As companies and individuals, we are all increasingly aware of our impacts on the environment - more specifically the ways in which our actions consume energy that result in carbon emissions or create waste that goes into landfill. And if we somehow forget, there are reminders everywhere we go. From the reusable bags sold in grocery stores, to energy efficiency labels on our appliances, to news stories on the latest energy-saving or recycling tips. Even oil companies are asking us to use less, advocating "human energy" instead.
And most of us, when given the option of doing something bad for the environment versus something good, will go for the good, more sustainable option. No hesitation! But often it's not that easy - there are no signs that label things as a "bad option" or "good option" to help guide our decisions. So, we struggle through trying to figure out what we should be doing and which option is "better." I can't tell you how long I have stood in the aisles of my grocery store trying to figure out which detergent or cleaning product to buy - and am often still confused after making my choice whether I did the right thing (just Google "bleach" and you get a sense of the debates that can go on). So when it comes to the role of the information and communications technologies can play in "greening" the planet, it is easy to see how the groans can escape and eyes glaze over. The potential complexity of items and issues that need to be waded through can seem overwhelming. But, I argue it's worth it, because the pay offs can be huge. The "Smart 2020" report, commissioned by the Global eSustainability Initiative (GeSI), with analysis by McKinsey & Company, estimates that information and communications technology (ICT), of which the network is a key component, has the potential to reduce global carbon emissions by 15 percent by 2020. That should be enough to make someone want to sit up and take notice. If you haven't already seen it, check it out. How would these technologies make this impact? McKinsey also released a detailed study, "Pathways to a Low Carbon Economy," that identifies over 200 opportunities for ICT technologies to reduce emissions, spanning multiple industries, including transport, energy and buildings, over many geographical regions. It's great reading if you are at all interested in how technology can help as we tackle some the world's toughest environmental problems. Just think of the emissions that are saved when you work from home versus getting into your car and driving into the office. Or the efficiencies that can be gained with just-in-time merchandising systems that cut down on guessing at consumer buying patterns or the practice of over-stocking. Or the waste that can be minimized with better tracking and management over the distribution of goods (50 percent of food is wasted due to inefficiencies in the supply chain). But it is also true that "green" IT is not all roses. The ICT industry does contribute to overall emissions during their lifecycle. And as more information and resources are digitized and the reliance on our connections to these online assets increases, those emissions will increase too. So there is work that needs to be done within the industry to ensure maximum benefit is derived from communications technologies, while minimizing their impact. In a nutshell, it requires the networking equipment vendors to look at their devices on a component, box design and broader solutions level to create greater efficiencies. The trick is to make sure the energy consumption of the communications infrastructure doesn't grow at the same rate as the exploding traffic growth its going to need to support. (Internet traffic is doubling approximately every two years) My goal is to try to wade through all the noise in subsequent blogs and make sense of the interdependencies to determine ways in which we can all better use the network to create a more sustainable planet. Be sure to check out my profile on the O'Reilly Community.
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Sorensen
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