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Green computing Article by: Mata-Toledo, Ramon A. Department of Computer Science, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia. Choi, Young B. Department of Management Information Systems and Computer Information Systems, College of Business, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. Last updated: 2010 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB100159 (https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB100159)

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Why do we need to go green? How can green computing help? Additional Readings

Green computing refers to the responsible use of computer and related resources with the object of curbing the negative effects that the increasing use of computers and their associated technologies have on the Earth's limited natural resources. Green computing is part of the broader concept of green technology (Green Tech), or clean technology (Clean Tech), which aims to use environmental and materials science to ensure that current and future technologies are socially equitable, economically viable, and do not damage or exhaust natural resources (sustainable). Green computing has been evolving over the last decade and, although there is no universal agreement as to what it may finally encompass, it generally considers all aspects of computer technology that contribute to reducing global warming and electronic waste (e-waste) through the use of alternative energy sources, power management, recycling, and biodegradable materials. Green computing also includes the implementation of national or international policies, agreements, and regulations to accomplish the above goals.

Why do we need to go green?

According to the Population Institute, climate change is perhaps the most crucial environmental challenge of this century. Eleven of the world's 12 highest annual global temperatures on record have occurred since 1995. There seems to be little doubt that the world's increasing population, along with the continuous demand for more fossil-based fuels, have contributed to an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases—carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorocarbons—which are believed to be responsible for global warming. The consequences of global warming are dire at best. The effects of global warming can result in accelerated melting of the polar ice caps, which would result in rising sea level, as well as changes in precipitation patterns, including long-term droughts. These two consequences of global warming are enough to disrupt both life and the world's economy. As a result of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, most of the countries of the world began to take steps toward reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. Much of these emissions are the result of power plants that use fossil fuels to generate electricity. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), power plants are responsible for 40% of the carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. On a global scale, the United States is by far the country with the most emissions of greenhouse gases. In fact, the carbon dioxide equivalent of the United States, measured in thousands of metric tons, is about 6746, compared to more populated countries, such as China (3650) and India (1228), or the European Union (4030). As of this writing the United States has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol.

http://www.accessscience.com/content/green-computing/YB100159 1/5 8/8/2017 Green computing - AccessScience from McGraw-Hill Education Along with the need to reduce global warming, it is also necessary to decrease the contamination of the planet with toxic waste and, in particular, e-waste. Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) issued by the EPA, televisions, monitors, computers, computer peripherals, audio and stereo equipment, VCRs, DVD players, video cameras, telephones, facsimile and copying machines, cellular phones, wireless devices, and video game consoles are primary examples of electronics and of what constitutes e-waste. According to estimates by the United Nations, each year around 20–50 million tons of computer gear and cellular phones are dumped into landfills worldwide. As a result, dangerous chemicals, such as mercury and poly(vinyl chloride) [PVC], are dumped into the environment. PVC generally contains toxic additives that leach out. Toxic waste can harm humans, animals, and plants if they encounter it buried in the ground, in stream runoff, in groundwater that supplies drinking water, or in floodwaters, as happened after Hurricane Katrina. Some toxins, such as mercury, persist in the environment and accumulate for hundreds of years. Humans or animals often absorb these toxins through food such as fish. In the long run, continuous consumption of these toxins will have a negative effect on human or animal health. In addition, hazardous materials from the world's leading economies often end up as detritus in the world's desperate places. Environmental groups say that there is a good chance electronic waste will end up in a dump somewhere in a third-world country, where thousands of laborers scavenge it for the precious metals inside, unwittingly exposing themselves and their surroundings to innumerable toxic hazards. A 1989 international treaty, known as the Basel Convention, restricts such transfers; however, the United States has not ratified this treaty. The EPA has a set of voluntary guidelines, known as R2 (responsible recycling), which include the general principles and specific practices for recyclers disassembling or reclaiming used electronics equipment, including those electronics that are exported for refurbishment and recycling. Similar but more restrictive guidelines have been adopted in Europe and Asia.

How can green computing help?

One of the main objectives of green technologies and, in particular, of green computing is to reduce the “carbon footprint” required or generated by computer technology. As indicated earlier, power plants are highly responsible for the production of greenhouse gases. To alleviate this, it is necessary to reduce the demand for electricity by computers throughout the world. According to the EPA, U.S. data centers alone consume as much power in a year as is generated by five power plants. Thus, the need for data center efficiency is a must. Several approaches to alternative sources of energy have been suggested to accomplish the goal of reducing their carbon footprint. The table shows some of the most promising technologies, along with some of their advantages and drawbacks.

Table - Comparison of green power technologies

Technology Advantages Drawbacks

Solid oxide Electrochemical power plants that produce no air pollutants. They make Still rely on hydrocarbons and do not

fuel cells more efficient use of energy by reducing the amount of hydrocarbon-based eliminate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. (SOFCs) fuel needed to generate the same amount of energy as current combustion They require a hydrogen infrastructure that engines. still has safety concerns and requires high costs to produce, store, and transfer.

Solar Eliminates air pollution and CO2emissions. Generates electricity from Still costly to produce. Current energy energy photons emitted by the Sun. This technology will play an important role in collectors only absorb energy from narrow the future. range of the Sun's light-wave emissions.

http://www.accessscience.com/content/green-computing/YB100159 2/5 8/8/2017 Green computing - AccessScience from McGraw-Hill Education Technology Advantages Drawbacks

Wind Eliminates air pollution and CO2emissions. Wind turns blades connected to Negative effect on bird population and energy a drive shaft that turns an electric generator to produce electricity. visual impact on landscape.

Nuclear Nuclear fission of enriched radioactive isotopic material to produce Produces radioactive waste that can last for electricity. This is the single greatest source of energy with no impact on thousands of years. Accidents can happen, global warming and capable of sustaining present and future energy needs. which may have devastating consequences for human health and the environment.

Enhanced Harnesses the heat generated naturally by the Earth to generate electricity. Determining appropriate sites for drilling is geothermal Wells are drilled into high-temperature basement rock (over 250°C) that is difficult as a result of lack of experience with systems naturally fractured. Cold water pumped into the wells absorbs heat as it this new technology. A site is suitable for travels through the fractured rock. The heat absorbed by the water is about 20 to 30 years. Maintenance of a converted into electricity via steam turbines. Water is reused and pumped large volume of rock (several cubic again for a new cycle. This technology has zero carbon emissions. kilometers) has not been quantified nor verified properly.

To further reduce the consumption of energy, electronic devices, such as computers, printers, and some other peripherals, are making use of Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI). If it detects the system has been inactive for some time, usually determined by the user or system defaults, it turns off the power or switches the system to a low-power state. According to the EPA, power management is important because the energy consumption by inactive computers in the United States alone is equivalent to the energy produced by five power plants in a year. Following some basic recommendations to keep consumption of energy to a minimum, such as turning off your computer and all its peripherals when they are not in use, may result, on average, in reducing nearly half a ton of carbon dioxide and saving more than $60 a year in energy costs. As an example of the effectiveness of the use of ACPI, it was widely reported during the last quarter of 2008 that the software company Symantec will save as much as $800,000 a year by setting up power-management software that turns off employee computers overnight and on weekends. Leading computer manufacturers, such as Apple and Dell, have also announced that their new products will be more energy-efficient. For example, the new MacBook laptops are 30% more energy-efficient than previous models, use less packaging, and meet two of the “gold standards” of green computing: the Energy Star 4.0 certification and the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) gold-level rating. The EPEAT evaluates electronic products in relation to 51 environmental criteria. Twenty-three of these criteria are required and 28 are optional. The EPEAT's environmental criteria are contained in the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Standard 1680. Under the EPEAT program, manufacturers declare their products' conformance to a comprehensive set of environmental criteria. Products are rated bronze, silver, and gold based on how many criteria are met. EPEAT gold products must meet all 23 required criteria and at least 75% of the optional criteria. Energy Star is a joint program of the EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy aimed at protecting the environment through energy-efficient products and practices. The Energy Star program, which only rates energy and environmental issues of monitors, desktops, and laptops, intends to soon have a category for servers as well. The EPA is currently developing an Energy Star rating for entire data centers.

Green computing also emphasizes the use of renewable and biodegradable materials because they consume less energy in their preparation and are easier to dispose of at the end of their useful life. It is estimated that approximately 209,700,000 tons of solid waste are generated annually in the United States, with about 1% of it classified as computer and/or electronic equipment. Of the total amount of waste generated, only an estimated 134,000 tons are recycled (based on 1998 statistics, according to PC Recycler, Inc.). Therefore, there is a need to use products that can change the cycle of electronic products from “cradle to grave” to “cradle to cradle.” The latter can only be achieved if electronic devices can be manufactured entirely

http://www.accessscience.com/content/green-computing/YB100159 3/5 8/8/2017 Green computing - AccessScience from McGraw-Hill Education from products that can be fully reclaimed or reused. Some manufacturers, such as Fujitsu, are currently using biodegradable plastic (bioplastic) for the main chassis of their personal computers. The bioplastic used is a type of poly(lactic acid), based on lactic acids produced from vegetable starch harvested from corn, potatoes, or wheat. The lactic acid is produced by microorganisms that act on the starch and then is chemically treated to form a plastic called polylactide (PLA). The Irish company MicroPro Computers is producing an entirely biodegradable and modular computer called iameco (pronounced “I am eco”). Iameco uses recycled wood panels for its computer case, keyboard, mouse, and monitor panels. One of the most remarkable aspects of the iameco computer is that implanted within the wood panels are seeds from native-tree species. When these computers are buried in a landfill, the wood breaks down and trees may grow. To make the computer more environmentally friendly, the iameco computer is modular so you can replace parts to keep it up to date.

Recently, some of the largest wireless communications equipment manufacturers, including NEC, Ericsson, Intel, and Ozmo, have invested time and effort to realize green communications (Green Comm) to satisfy the demanding requirements of wireless service subscribers. Several initiatives have been suggested in the cell phone industry. The idea is to make cell phones repairable and easily remodeled. This will result in phones in which the “casing” reflects fashion shifts, while preserving the guts of the phone as much as possible. A major objective in the wireless industry is reduction of the energy consumption of the transmitter/receiver (base station) towers. In fact, base stations generally consume 80% of the power used by wireless networks, with one 3G network using some 5–10 million kilowatt-hours of power each year.

Additional changes that apply not only to telecommunication equipment but also to the industry in general include the elimination of lead from printed-circuit boards. For example, in traditional manufacturing process, lead alloys are used to attach silicon chips to the inside of packages and to interconnect the electronic components of circuit boards. Newer technologies do not require lead alloys, instead using alloys consisting of tin, silver, and copper, which are not as harmful to the environment.

See also: Biodegradation (/content/biodegradation/422025); Climate modification (/content/climate- modification/140400); Computer peripheral devices (/content/computer-peripheral-devices/757260); Distributed systems (computers) (/content/distributed-systems-computers/201450); Electric power generation (/content/electric- power-generation/216600); Electronic packaging (/content/electronic-packaging/757432); Energy sources (/content/energy-sources/233000); Global climate change (/content/global-climate-change/757541); Hazardous waste (/content/hazardous-waste/309250); Industrial ecology (/content/industrial-ecology/757580); Mobile communications (/content/mobile-communications/428800); Polyester resins (/content/polyester-resins/534200); Polyvinyl resins (/content/polyvinyl-resins/537500); Recycling technology (/content/recycling-technology/757456); Toxicology (/content/toxicology/702700)

Ramon A. Mata-Toledo Young B. Choi

Additional Readings

Y. B. Choi, From Green Computing to Green Communications: A New Application of GreenTech, 2009

Advanced Configuration and Power Interface Specification [PDF] (http://www.acpi.info/DOWNLOADS/ACPIspec30a.pdf)

Get Adobe Acrobat Reader (https://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/)

Alliance for a Clean Environment: PVC alternatives database (http://acereport-archives.org/pvc3.html)

Carbon Planet: Greenhouse gas emissions by country (http://www.carbonplanet.com/country_emissions) http://www.accessscience.com/content/green-computing/YB100159 4/5 8/8/2017 Green computing - AccessScience from McGraw-Hill Education EPEAT or Energy Star [PDF] (http://sustainability.psu.edu/sites/default/files/images/EPEATvsEnergyStar.pdf)

Get Adobe Acrobat Reader (https://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/)

Securis: PC Recycler, Inc. (http://www.pcrecycler.net/)

USA Today: Much toxic computer waste lands in Third World (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2002/02/25/computer- waste.htm)

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