In what's likely to be the last blog before the holidays I would like to extend seasons greetings to all readers. Without you it would all be pretty pointless!
And for those of you who are looking for something to while away the time before the festivities begin, here's a challenge. The above picture contains images from a number of Green IT Review blogs in 2008. Can you tell me the date and the title of the blog in which they appeared?
The first correct list of dates and titles sent to the email address opposite will win a copy of "Playing the Green IT Card" from The Green IT Report (the research arm of The Green IT Review"). This 50-page report, published earlier this year, looks at the implications of Green IT for IT suppliers in general and the software and IT services (SITS) suppliers in particular.
Even if you don't win, I'm sure just looking through all that's happened in the last year will be a useful reminder of what's been going on in the world of Green IT.
And there'll be more next year.
Tuesday, 23 December 2008
Monday, 22 December 2008
In another example of industry taking responsibility for what governments seem unable to do, the Chamber of Shipping, which represents UK-based commercial shipping, is advocating an open emissions trading scheme for global shipping.
According to the organisation, the emissions from carrying a ton of freight by ship is a tenth of that by road and just one hundredth of the emissions from air transport. Nevertheless, because so much freight is carried by sea, shipping produces nearly 3% of total carbon emissions.
The problem is, as the President of the UK Chamber of Shipping pointed out, because ships move between countries there is no effective way to include shipping in a national carbon emissions reduction process. Shipping is, therefore, (along with international air travel) one of the last significant global industries to remain outside any governmental framework for the reduction of carbon emissions. The UK’s Climate Change Bill will bring in monitoring of emissions from shipping, but it's not clear how and as yet there are no emissions reduction targets.
If it comes about then it will be another factor to build into international logistics management systems.
Friday, 19 December 2008
Dell has announced plans to eliminate 20 million pounds of computer packaging over the next four years, saving $8m and helping preserve more than 150,000 trees
The plan includes reducing desktop and laptop packaging materials by 10% worldwide, increasing sustainable content in cushioning and corrugated packaging by 40% and ensuring that 75% of packaging is recyclable through curbside collections by 2012.
As a result of these announcements the company claims to be the only major computer manufacturer with a global packaging reduction target for desktops and laptops and has challenged other technology companies to join it in implementing a global green packaging strategy.
Thursday, 18 December 2008
EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool), the system from the US Green Electronics Council for rating IT equipment, has joined up with EcoLogo, the environmental standards and certification organisation which is a well-established eco label in the US.
The idea is that the partnership will make it easier for companies to register IT products in the EPEAT system since they will be able to do so through either organisation.
Smart metering has been seen for some time as one of the biggest Green IT opportunities in the UK and I can think of at least three companies I've spoken to who think they are the ideal IT supplier and have been jokeying for position as the market maker for some time. Well it looks like we are going to find out who the winners and losers are going to be quite soon as the UK is apparently about to put the contract out to tender.
According to The Sunday Times last weekend, Vodafone, O2, BT, Logica, Accenture, IBM and Capgemini are already trying to establish consortia for bidding for the contracts (and I would expect to see Siemens and Fujitsu Services in there somewhere, among others). It's a huge task, with around 46 million meters in 26 million homes, but it will allow energy users to monitor consumption, which invariably leads to lower use, encourage micro-generation of energy and also bring other customer services benefits.
Apparently there is already broad agreement between government and industry about how meters will be rolled out (starting in 2010) and the data managed. Overall contracts will be worth about £7bn.
The downside is that these sorts of contracts have invariably gone wrong, with the NPfIT (the NHS modernisation programme) a recent and prime example. Arguably this is a lot different, with relatively few energy suppliers (rather than thousands of autonomous health providers) and more basic technology, but the opportunities to get it wrong are still legion. Fingers crossed.
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
The US President-elect has appointed the heads of his environmental team, with Steven Chu, a Nobel prize-winning physicist, as Energy Secretary and Carol Browner, the former EPA chief, taking the new White House 'Czar' (or Tsar or Tsarina, depending on which report you read) role. The EPA will be run by Lisa Jackson, who was a New Jersey environmental regulator.
Chu and Browner are being described as the green dream team (or dream green team) in what is seen as a decisive move by Barack Obama to a more scientific approach to environmental issues than the oil-industry influenced policy of recent years.
It will be very interesting to see how this pans out next year after power has changed hands.
TNS recently published the results of a survey in 17 countries looking at green attitudes, perceptions and behaviours. A total of 13,128 people were interviewed online and much of the report compares responses by country. The full report is here.
One interesting question was about actions to benefit the environment and the IT industry seems to have scored a hit. Top of the respondents' list is shutting down computers when not in use (46% said they always do it and 23% said they often do it). The second-placed action (turning down heating/air conditioning) got an 'always' count of only 36%.
Respondents were asked if they understood the term 'carbon footprint' and only 42% said they did (although whether that's true or not is another question). But there were huge differences in responses. Japan and the UK were way ahead of anywhere else, with 97% and 94% respectively saying they knew what it meant. At the other end of the scale were France (21%), Italy (17%), Germany (15%) and Korea (12%).
Awareness doesn't bring action, though. Among those that know what a carbon footprint is, only 28% plan to measure it and that includes just 7% in Japan and 26% in the UK.
It gets worse. When asked whether they are willing to pay more for green IT products and services the UK came bottom of the list - only 45% were prepared to pay more and the USA, Italy and France were not much better. By contrast, in Thailand 94% said they would pay more.
France Germany and the UK were also at the bottom of the list of respondents willing to pay extra for waste collection services that recycle (41%, 34% and 28% respectively). Although, to be fair, there is already extensive recycling of household waste in some countries and in the UK, for example, the view is likely to be that its being done already, paid for through taxes.
Finally, do companies who promote themselves as Green get our business? In response 6% said it was a significant influencer and 18% said it was a large influencer, making 24% overall. Five emerging markets were at the top of the table; Brazil (58%), Mexico (49%), Argentina (42%), Thailand (42%), and Malaysia (35%). Whilst at the other end of the scale were 25% in France, 19% in the USA, 17% in the UK and 12% in Germany, perhaps because of the additional publicity given to greenwashing.
Interesting results, but as much as anything else I think it highlights the different stages that countries are at in becoming more environmentally aware and active. For example, the more that's being done already the less urgent the issues become, which might otherwise be seen as inaction. I've had several conversations along those lines about the Green IT market in Europe. For example, Green IT is seen as less of an issue in Germany because there already exists a more pervasive Green attitude in that country and Green IT is not separated out.
Monday, 15 December 2008
Another report has come out highlighting the above average performance of technology companies in addressing climate change issues.
Ceres, which describes itself as 'a national network of investors, environmental organisations and other public interest groups working with companies and investors to address sustainability challenges such as global climate change' has published a report looking at the climate change governance of some leading consumer and technology companies. RiskMetrics Group was commissioned to carry out the research, which covered 48 US and 15 non-US companies in areas of board oversight, management execution, public disclosure, GHG emissions accounting and strategic planning and performance. The full report is here.
Technology, pharmaceutical and semiconductor sectors had the highest average climate governance scores, while technology and semiconductor companies had particularly strong performance in product and service innovation (seven technology companies and four semiconductor companies were included).
IBM came top of the overall rankings with a score of 79 (out of 100), with Dell in third place (77), Intel in fourth (72), Sun in 10th (63) and Hewlett-Packard in 11th (62).
Interesting, but what would be even more telling would be some measure of the extent to which IT services companies are reducing carbon emissions in society as a whole through their work with clients. This is the area that is going to make a real long-term difference, but I guess it will be difficult to measure and compare in a way everyone can agree.
Thursday, 11 December 2008
On Monday the European Commission published proposed revisions to the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive, which came into force in the UK in January 2007.
There are a number of proposed changes would add some strength to the legislation, which has come in for some criticism as being unworkable. The EU reports that only around a third of waste electrical and electronic equipment is being treated according to the legislation with the rest going to landfill (13%) and potentially sub-standard treatment inside or outside the EU (54%). Illegal trade to non-EU countries is still widespread.
Among the EU proposals are:
- Harmonising measuring and reporting for producers, so that national registers are inter-operable
- Clarifying scope and definitions
- Change the target collection rate from the current 4kg/capita per year to a variable target that takes into account the economies of individual member States. The new target is set at 65% of the average weight of products placed on the market in the two preceding years
- Increase the Re-use and recycling targets by 5%
- Member States should encourage producers to finance the cost of collection facilities of waste electrical and electronic equipment from private households.
There is a Q&A around the proposed changes here
Intel announced last week that it is looking at developing tiny sensors that captures energy from a variety of sources which could be used to power mobile phones and other devices.
The company is researching the technology that would allow the generation of small amounts of charge from sources such as sunlight and body heat. The ultimate aim would be devices that don't need active recharging.
There is already some similar technology on the market, such as watches powered by body heat and movement. But Intel is taking it a step further, including the possibility of getting energy from the radiation emitted from mobile phones and TVs. This Wisp (wireless identification and sensing platform) technology would also enable real-time reporting of the environment without the need for power, which could turn out to be an even more important application.
Don't expect any products soon, though.
Monday, 8 December 2008
I had the chance to catch up on Fujitsu Services' environmental strategy last week at the company's analyst event in the UK. There has always been a significant environmental awareness in Japan which has translated into early action - Fujitsu has had environmental control sections at each of its plants since 1972 and established an Ozone Layer Protection Committee in 1987. The company has a number of environmental and sustainability initiatives in place in Japan and they are coming to Fujitsu Services in Europe and elsewhere. Among the things I learned last week are:
- Fujitsu has recently published its 66-page corporate Sustainability Report (see it here). A version specifically covering Fujitsu Services is expected soon.
- The company has taken targets for CO2 emissions reductions a stage further by accounting for all the emissions it reduces. Thus the Group is committed to reducing emissions in Japan (by its customers and society as a whole) by seven million tonnes between 2007 and 2010. The company also has a longer term target of 30 million tonnes every year between 2010 and 2020 (which makes a cumulative total of 150 million tonnes). There is an 'aspirational' target of reducing emissions in Europe by five million tonnes a year by 2020.
- Fujitsu has had its own environmental assessment for products since 1993 and in 1998 developed a its Green Product Evaluation Standards. Since 2004 it has been working on SuperGreen Product development, i.e. products that have environmental characteristics that are a class above and beyond the existing range or available on the market. (In 2007 32 product families were designated Super Green).
- The company has also developed a range of Environmentally Conscious Solutions. These are IT solutions that have been assessed on seven factors related to CO2 emissions (see the chart) and shown to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 15%. This is a packaged approach, i.e there are a range of well defined solutions with clear environmental benefits. There are over 80 of these solutions defined in Japan and the company has started the process of bringing them to Europe.
In my view Fujitsu is positioned to be a major player in the Green IT services market. Firstly, its Japanese heritage gives it credibility in the market as an environmentally conscious company. Secondly, the Lean manufacturing, TRIOLE and Sense and Respond methodologies all make it well placed to increase business efficiency, whether it be for Green reasons or just business improvement. Thirdly, the packaged solution approach both plays to the company's strengths and to the market requirements. Uncertainty about benefits is a major factor in holding back Green IT. If a credible player can offer packaged CO2 reduction IT solutions it may well appeal to a broad market and stimulate Green IT uptake.
Friday, 5 December 2008
There are interesting plans afoot to build what is described as the world's largest data centre just outside Lockerbie in Scotland.
The data centre, at a place called Peelhouses, is proposed to be 250,000 square metres and has an estimated cost of £800m. But one of the most interesting aspects is the fact that, according to Lockerbie Data Centres Limited which is planning to build the facility, the development will 'enshrine principles of sustainability and address economic, social and environmental aspects of the locality'.
The development will offset the energy inputs required (much of which will come from biomass and wind power) by balancing it with local renewable energy sources and the re-use of energy in a new village of 750 homes, a commercial and technology park and greenhouses used for commercial or research purposes. There is also an area within the development set aside for landscaped recreational use.
It's worth having a look at the proposals, which are here. It's not for me to comment on an individual development - there is a public exhibition of the proposal going on now for the local community to express its views. But the extent of the development, the holistic approach to its impact on the environment and the consideration of energy input and output all point to a more thoughtful approach to how and where to place these monuments to our hi-tech society.
It will be interesting to see how the proposal develops.
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Not really news, but I've recently come across the Iameco range of PCs from Irish Company MicroPro Computers. They're built from bio-degradable wood panels and apparently use a third less energy than the average PC.
In fact the company makes a range of eco-friendly casings and keyboards and the designs are stunning, as the pictures show.
It's not the only player in this market, though. Asustek Computer was due to show off its new laptop with the bamboo chassis at Taiwan's IT Month exhibition over the weekend. The company will launch the bamboo laptops in the US and Europe sometime in the future.
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
GreenFactor describes itself as a joint initiative between Strategic Oxygen and Cohn & Wolfe to illuminate 'green' marketing opportunities and further 'green'-focused research on a global scale.
The organisation has released the results of a survey of 10,000 adults in 12 major markets looking at issues around Green electronics.
There is an interesting chart that compares the survey results of the perception of companies (in the US) with Greenpeace's recent assessment of electronics manufacturers (see my recent blog). It shows that PR, and its resulting company perception, is very different from the reality.
Companies ranked highly in terms of perception by the US respondents are Dell, HP, Apple and Microsoft, whilst losers, i.e. companies were the perception is much lower than the Greenpeace 'reality', include Nokia, Samsung, Toshiba, Acer, Panasonic, Lenovo and Philips.
Whilst you could put this down to the PR effort (not to say greenwashing) it may just be a lack of knowledge. The scoring seems more to reflect general product perception and favours local suppliers - the top four are all US companies. (The three highest scorers on Greenpeace's assessment were Nokia, Samsung and Sony). Another finding in the survey seems to back this up. Lack of awareness was given as the number one barrier to Green sales - brands are not adequately educating customers on how environmentally-friendly their products are.
The full list of companies by perception of how Green they are is shown below and more details of the survey are here.
Monday, 1 December 2008
The World Communication Awards (WCA), which seems to be an organisation set up by the telecoms industry to give awards to the telecoms industry, has given BT its Green Award medal.
The award was based on progress in Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility (CSER) issues with special emphasis on plans to reduce carbon emissions and taking part in recycling efforts.
BT is certainly working hard on becoming a greener organisation and its actions and targets are impressive. For example, by December 2016 the company is aiming to reduce its UK CO2 emissions to 80% below 1996 levels.
For me, though, the announcement was undermined by the fact that BT was also a finalist for the Best Customer Care award. Based on my personal experience as a customer it must have been a very small field.