Companies will look to IT to cut carbon, say analysts

IT will play an increasingly significant role in companies’ efforts to reduce their carbon footprint in response to the burden of regulation and public opinion, according to a report published recently by tech industry advisory agency Gartner.

By 2014, most business cases for new IT systems will factor in “carbon remediation” advantages, says the report, entitled Gartner top end user predictions for 2010: coping with the new balance of power.

Public policy and public opinion about climate change will mean companies have to look for ways to do business differently, the report argues. IT has proved its ability to make organisations more efficient and profitable, so it is natural for firms to turn to technology as a way of reducing their carbon footprints.

Rising energy costs – a large factor in the running of datacentres – are already driving the uptake of IT systems with lower power consumption than their predecessors, and this trend will continue.

“In practical terms, carbon costs shadow energy costs, requiring the addition of an emissions factor (carbon emissions per kWh) and a projected cost of carbon remediation. Therefore, updating the spreadsheets is a moderately simple task,” the report authors write.

While current efforts to reduce power are focused primarily on the datacentre, the PCs populating every office desk will also play their part. In 2012, 60 per cent of a new PC’s total life greenhouse gas emissions will have occurred during manufacture and in the supply chain, before the user first turns the machine on, Gartner’s crystal ball-watchers predict. This will drive more companies to upgrade PCs rather than replace them, the report concludes.

“In an environmentally ideal world, PCs would be more modular and robust, allowing them to be upgraded to extend life. Due to the obvious implications on demand, the industry has not pursued upgrading as a strategy. As usage-related CO2 emissions grow, PC manufacturers and vendors can expect pressure to deliver more modular, upgradable PCs,” says the report.