The environmental impact of IT

Information technology (IT) has revolutionized the world we live in, our lifestyle has radically changed from what it was 25 years ago due to IT. This point is underscored by the fact the IT infrastructure worldwide has grown at a rapid rate fueled by demand for it, innovations in production, and the developments in hardware design. This is no doubt why a global study of Carbon Dioxide emission shows that the ICT (Information Communication Technology)sector contributes of over 2% of CO2 emissions. In fact it is on par with the emissions coming from the aviation industry. Also experts say that this sector is set to grow steadily over the next few year due to demand placed on it.

There are those that argue, saying that people should focus on the reducing the other 98% of emissions by using IT, solutions like video conferencing, manufacturing process efficiency management etc.. should be the focus according to them. What I think is that before emissions due to IT get out of control steps must be taken to as the saying goes, nip it in the bud. Agreed that IT can have great effect on curbing other emissions, it should also point out that this intervention using IT will lead heavier demand on IT and thus expansion of IT infrastructure, and finally more CO2 emissions from it.

The environmental effects of IT can be categorized into 3 types of impacts.

• First order - The impact of creating IT components and transporting them etc.
• Second order - The impacts of using IT components, power consumption or resource reduction due to IT use.
• Third order -The impacts of long term use of IT by a large number of people, This can be positive or negative (e.g. energy consumption of IT, radiation emissions).

Right now IT can be greened, and measures can put in place to help make it more greener. This should be tackled on two fronts

1. IT hardware innovations (e.g. low power consumption devices)
2. Green IT usage policy and management.

The time is now for change, greening IT is not rocket science it can be done. It just needs a little effort behind it.