Green Computing: What You Need to Know

From the past few years, the use of electronic devices had increased alarmingly. Computers are used in every field to increase the speed of work and to get accurate results. It ultimately results in more power consumption and hardware waste. That’s why green technology has been introduced to utilise the resources efficiently.

In other words, Green computing or green IT is a new paradigm to design or utilise the computer systems with the least possible amount of power and disposing off the devices in a way that reduces their negative impact on the environment.

Green computing, basically, includes:

• Green Design

It refers to designing computers or other electronic gadgets in such a way that each process from production to disposal should be environment-friendly.

• Green Manufacturing

While manufacturing a product, it is important not to use, non-recyclable paints and coatings on computer systems. Also, the system should be easy to upgrade or modulate whenever necessary rather than producing a new one.

• Green Use

It is considerable to buy only those new systems which are energy star qualified. It helps to reduce power consumption. Also, using green computing technology can bring down energy costs up to 74%.

• Green Disposal

Do not through your old gadgets; they can be recycled. Some companies extract valuable metals or parts and make other things. Also, you can even get little cash by selling your gadgets.

Importance of Green Computing

The goal of green computing is to reduce the use of materials like mercury, cadmium, and other toxic substances which cause global warming. The idea behind green computing is to make computers a green product by considering each process from the beginning to end. Green computing identifies how to use resources effectively and how to reduce waste and power consumption. Technologies like cloud computing, virtualisation, grid computing, power optimisation, green data center help to save energy and extend the use of hardware.

Key Points You Need to Know

1. Environmental Statistics

Excess use of electronic gadgets makes a drastic climate change around the world. Global warming is becoming the most crucial issue for the world.

According to a recent report by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), every day, we recycle or dispose off over 416,000 mobile devices and 142,000 computers either in landfills and incinerators.

Green computing is a crucial step that can help to prevent global warming. Whenever you bought an electronic product, you should always check the upgradability and modularity. This will help to run any gadget for a long way.

Business should use green data centers to reduce the carbon footprint. Also, other harmful substances like methane, nitrous oxide are the reason for increasing earth’s temperature which ultimately leads to global warming. That’s why it is crucial to understand how we can effectively utilize our electronic products.

2.  Energy Consumption

As our lives have migrated towards the digital world and the use of computers has increased so much. At this time there is no provision to reduce the usage but what we can do is minimize its energy consumption.

Green computing is the best technology for businesses to reduce energy usage. Also, everyone should be aware of how they can save energy by following some practices. For example, switching off the computer screen when it is not in use, enable power saver mode, use LED monitors or use only energy star gadgets.

According to The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), data centers heavily consume energy, which was between 1.1% and 1.5% of the world’s total energy use in 2010. Another example is that the total primary energy consumption in the United States in 1990 was 85.5 Quadrillion Btu which has been increased to 94.9 Quadrillion Btu in 2012.

Energy consumption is a major concern for all as costs are increasing day by day. Newer technologies like green computing can be used to reduce energy demand.

3. Electronic Waste

Electronic waste or E-waste includes discarded electronic gadgets such as mobile phones, TV screens, monitors and many more. Recycling raw materials is the most effective solution for reducing e-waste. Various electronic devices include such material that can be used in other devices. That’s why it is essential to recycle gadgets instead of throwing them anywhere.

According to 2010 figures from the EPA, approximately 350,000 mobile phones are disposed off each day. That equates to more than 152 million phones thrown away in one year.

Conclusion:

In today’s time, the use of green computing is mainly associated with the ability to save energy and make environment-friendly gadgets. However, in the long run, this approach is expected to have a broader impact on enterprises in terms of saving money as well.