Green Computing - Annotated Bibliography Example

Green computing: Introduction: The modern era is dominated and driven by technology and digital equipment. All around us we see digital devices in one form or other. They have become an integral part of our life both in domestic sphere and in social sphere. However these digital devices pose a considerable threat in the context of environmental consideration. The mankind has contributed to the environmental imbalance through use of technology in one way or the other, some direct while others indirect. Aims and objectives: The paper looks into the reasons of global imbalances in the environmental, the different sources of hazards and pollutants and latter on provides an insight into the overall concept of Green Computing which has come as a new term with aim of making the environment a better one. The environmental aspect: All the hardware that is being used in the computing world, has a direct impact on the environment which is not directly interpreted but in a passive way, it impacts the environment and this process has been a continuous one that is eating up the green ground of the earth (Harris 2008). Literature Review: Different proponents from the field of technology have expressed their concern in various ways. One similar example in this regard is the phenomena and formula formalized by Paul Ehrlich (Aronson 2008), who presents an equation and terms technology as one of the contributing factor towards the pollution and environmental imbalance that is being caused. The variables of that formula include the human impact, the population of the masses and most importantly the technological impact and its relevance with regard to environmental hazards. Sustainable I.T is another name given to the entire effort and is based on the sole idea of safer operations and healthier environment. The efforts that were brought into action towards greener operation can be actually traced back to the last decade of 20th century when the scientists and the environmentalists realized that the digital devices were doing considerable damage to the environment. Proponents in this regard and early work were the Energy Star Program and Environmental Protection Agency which took a serious note of the prevailing situation and aimed at resolving that in time before it could possibly go out of hand. The mathematical figure: Gartner Inc, through its studies has evaluated that the overall percentage of carbon dioxide emission that is being emitted into the atmosphere, the 2 percent of it comes directly from the use of digital devices which are being brought into use through the digital activities that are being conducted in one form or the other (W.B 2007). This is an alarmingly high value which could shoot up further if no proper counter measures are ensured in the near future. Watson et.al have also contributed in this domain and termed the concept as one that relies on the non physical usage of data and interface, with no or little burden on the environment. The green computing concept: Various experts have worked on the concept of green computing and have defined it in different ways all having one thing in common- safe environmental operations. (Murugesan 2008) defines it as a concept which entails the overall usage, construction and manufacturing of the digital devices in a environmental considerable manner. Hilty, Kohler & Erdmann have dissected the overall scenario and standing of the present digital environment into multiple layers. Each layer representing the possible repercussions. (Molla, A. et al 2009) presented a percentage wise segmentation that explains the purpose and reason behind adoption of green operations in the field of Information technology. The top three percentages include reduction of cost, environmental protection. The power factor: Not all the hazards to environment are in direct form of exhausts in the atmosphere, rather some are contributing in an indirect manner. The use of electricity by the computers is one of the sources. The case becomes severe in cases of server stations and mega operators of computer networks which provide internet connections and other resources to the users in different ways. They make use of the electricity in an abundant manner thereby creating a serious problem to the environment. The heat exhausted by the hardware devices that is present in the network system is a contributing factor. Adding the backup setup to the system which allows for continuous supply of electricity in an uninterrupted form is another factor that results in the exhausts wastes. Robert R. Harmon, Nora Auseklis have conducted in depth research in the given field with purpose of highlighting what is the cause that has brought about the demand for green operations. According to their research and findings, it is not just the environmental factor, rather the economy, ease of operations, faster and smarter operations. They further highlight that the speed with which the internet is growing in proportionate manner in every domain of life, along with the digital devices becoming an integral part of every sphere of life, it is earnestly desired to create a system which will not only facilitate healthy operations but also cheap costs considerations which is possible through the sustainable I.T means and green computing (Olson 2008) Corporate social responsibility: C.S.R is a term that is attributed to the use of digital domain and technology and it pertains to the using of the given technology in a socially friendly manner with minimum damage to the environmental factors along with the consideration of using minimal sources of energy. C.S.R allow pertains to introducing new methods, techniques and tools which will facilitate further friendly operations towards environment. C.S.R in other terms can be termed as a concept that is driven towards better utilization of technology with regard to the social sphere that broadly includes the environment (WEBBER & WALLACE, 2009). Governmental steps: Recent times have seen steps and concerns from the governmental sections in different parts of the world, most notably United States of America. One similar move was that of Clean Air Act, along with the Al Gore’s most famous move towards global warming (Jacques 2009). IPCC (Ray 2011)is one similar step that is taken in a broader perspective towards the elimination of global warming which not just entails the digital media but also the overall social sphere including industrial wastes, transportation wastes and many other sources that are becoming a hazard towards environment. President Barrack Obama also expressed his resolve towards healthier operations with regard to the technology and energy usage. Different surveys and studies have been conducted in this regard to determine the amount of power being consumed on different levels in the computing world. One similar research conducted by AMD finds out that around 40 billion KWH of power is being consumed in the computer hardware applications (see http:// enterprise.amd.com/Downloads/ svrpwrusecompletefinal.pdf) A small effort in form of Zigbee: With so many efforts going on, both on small scale and large scale, one of the notable and mentionable factor that has been built and developed for the purpose and with regard to environment friendly operations include the use of Zig bee. This incorporates a plenum like environment, and thereby reduces the possible hazards posed to the environment through excessive discharge of heat from the hardware devices that are being used in the system. E-Commerce: E- Commerce is a new concept that is taking its position in modern times, there are multi fold advantages attached to e- commerce, one in form of the usage of vehicles that would be used for travelling, other in form of the hard form documents which would be otherwise used through the expense of the cutting of wood, and many more other features. This kind of business is becoming a common trend and practice in different parts of the world and more specifically in United States of America, and the business class is finding large number of advantages from it, and also to the appeasement of the environmentalists. Virtual operations and other remote sources of contact are few of the methods that can be used for the purpose of reduced wastes and environmental destruction. Economy of Green computing: Economic impact is often being debated regarding the transfer of overall technology towards the green computing infrastructure. This is being gauged against the concept of carbon productivity (Dedrick 2010) which grows in an inverse proportionally relation with respect to the reduction in the amount of waste being released by the digital devices. Economic impact is of high value in the overall concept of green computing since reduction in costs will attract more clients and more investors towards adopting the new concepts. The managers and the overall stakeholder team would find interest only if the monetary aspect is of high interest and flexible. For example the e commerce examples along with the concept of virtualization concept are two of the salient gifts of green computing which focuses on reduced usage of physical hardware. Practical implementation: The green computing is not just about the mere idea, rather it involves a complete methodology which needs step wise implementation of processes and activities. Mitesh Desai & Vaibhav Bhatia have conducted research in this regard and they have presented the various variables and set of activities and processes that are needed to be taken into account in order to implement green computing concept. Green I.T Maturity model (Desai & Bhatia 2011) has been recommended in this regard. Aim of the Green I.T maturity model: The model gives a litmus test view of the organizational positioning with regard to its preparedness towards complete adoption of the green computing concept. Since it requires various functions and processes, and overall budget and hardware to be in line with the core idea of green computing, for this purpose a holistic study is being conduted in the maturity model test. The maturity model is a multi layer concept with each layer representing various segments and entities. These layers include the sustainability factor, dynamic level of organizational operations and the existence of the infrastructure along with the possible requirements of the infrastructure against the presently available structure. The model takes into account data centre processes, the end users functions and applications and numerous other important functions. The model further gives an insight of what is needed by the company in what proportion and what concentration and also enables highlighting the kind of activities that must be undertaken and those that must be avoided in bid to achieve the green computing operations. Acknowledgeable efforts: Besides the governmental efforts, there are certain organizations that have taken account of the growing pollution and the spread of hazardous material into environment through their activities. Marks & Spencer (Melville 2010) took a commendable step in this direction towards the eradication of such trend and activities when it launched a five year plan aimed at reducing the wastes in form of digital wastes and reducing its overall processes that were in any way in contrast to the global nature of mother land earth. European Union (Morgera 2012) is another force that has raised voice towards making the environment healthy, and it aims at reducing the percentage of emission by a considerable over 15 to 20 percent. Kyoto protocol (Faure et al. 2003) although not strictly digital and electronic in nature, yet is one similar move guided and motivated by the purpose of reducing the wastes that are being eliminated into the atmosphere through the usage of all kinds of material in the industrial processes. The legislation part: The realization has been established and all over a general sense prevails towards making the environment healthy and better, the next step that awaits the stakeholders contribution is that of legislation of the act and bringing about the steps into action. Enforcing these rules upon the companies making sure they comply with the rules set forward, setting up standardized percentage of emissions that a company or an I.T firm may emit, along with the number of data centers and other heavy digital devices usage are few of the factors that may be taken into account in order to bring about substantive improvement in the prevailing scenario (Morley 2010). Recommended solution: Various solutions are being proposed by various scientists from the field of digital domain and technology. One of the steps recommended is the use of electronic piece of paper, followed by the work load management, which will allow for reduction on certain hardware devices and as a result reduced emission into the atmosphere. This is followed by the suggestion and possible option of revamping the data centers outlook, since the data centers are becoming heavily saturated and congested and as a result of which direct exhausts are being experienced into the atmosphere and they in turn are resulting in the imbalances in the green house effect and carbon cycle. Design consideration is another area that can be taken into account and designing the devices and hardware in such a way that they not only emit limited amount of waste and heat into the atmosphere but also have cooling procedures to them along with the low power consumption orientation. Need for a holistic measure: The green computing is not just limited to the environmental consideration, rather it invokes the effort and contribution from all the stakeholders that are involved in the digital domain, ranging from the designers of the digital devices, to the algorithm crafters, to the commerce and business enterprises who make use of the heavily abundant digital devices, to the human factor and the human beings at the back end and individual level who use the digital devices at home without regard to the environmental consideration (Jain & Wullert 2001). This also requires contribution from the governmental entities and the social activists who are actively involved in the environment friendly operations not just limited to the digital domain but overall social activities (Harmon & Auseklis 2009). References: Aronson, J. S. (2008). Making IT a Positive Force in Environmental Change. I E E E Comp u t e r S o c i e t y. Berleur, J. J., Hilty, L. M., & Hercheui, M. D. (2010). What Kind of Information Society? Governance, Virtuality, Surveillance, Sustainability, Resilience. Springer. Dedrick, J. (2010). Green IS: Concepts and Issues for Information Systems Research. School of Information Studies, Syracuse. Desai, M., & Bhatia, V. (2011). Green I.T maturity Model : How Does Your Organization Stack Up. SetLabs. Electronic Waste Research and Development Act of 2009 draft legislation, House Committee on Science and Technology, 2009; http://democrats.science.house. gov/Media/File/Commdocs/hear ings/ 2009/Full/11feb/Electronic%20Waste _Draft%20Legislaiton.pdf. Faure, M. G., Nentjes, A., & Gupta, J. (2003). Climate change and the Kyoto protocol: the role of institutions and instruments to control global change. Edward Elgar Publishing. Harris, J. (2008). Green Computing and Green It: Best Practices on Regulations and Industry Initiatives, Virtualization, Power Management, Materials Recycling and Telecommuting. Lulu.com. Harmon, R. R., & Auseklis, N. 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Climate Change: IPCC, Water Crisis, and Policy Riddles with Reference to India and Her Surroundings. Lexington Books. WEBBER, L., & WALLACE, M. (2009). Green Tech: How to Plan and Implement Sustainable IT Solutions. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. W.B. (2007). World development indicators. World Bank Publications. Read More