Green Information Revolution - Essay Example

GREEN IT by Student’s name Code+ course name Professor’s name University name City, State Date Green IT The information revolution of the last ten years has enhanced the introduction of many devices that use electricity in our homes. The benefits brought by computers have made many organizations and government institutions to implement information technology in their processes. In this regard, many computer systems and peripheral devices have been introduced in organizations and government institutions for effective and efficient service delivery. The introduction of the internet has made many people to own devices that can access the internet but take electric power to work including personal computers, laptops, smart phones, tablets, and mobile phones. In addition, with a bid to light many homes, many governments across the world increased the number of homes with electricity twofold in the last one decade. All these devices are powered by electricity. Without proper measures taken by many individuals, government institutions, and organizations, a lot of energy goes to waste while using computers. Many computers are always not turned off while not being used, which makes the energy used by central processing unit, monitor screen savers, and fans to use power that would have been saved in case they were turned off. In addition, the many powered devices introduced in the market today enhance the use of a lot of electricity (Harris 2008). Electricity use affects electricity generation and all forms of electricity generation affect the environment. Moreover, non-renewable sources of electricity such as oil, coal, and natural gas take a long period of time to be formed in the earth’s surface making them to completely depleted once used for electricity generation. During electricity generation, burning of oil or fossil fuel leads to pollution of the environment by gases emitted such as sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxides. According to the United States Environmental Defense (2002), electricity production in the United States accounts for the emission of 62.6% of sulfur dioxide, 40% of carbon dioxide, and 21.1% of nitrous oxide to the environment. Sulfur dioxide mixes with rain water to form acid rain known as sulfurous acid which is harmful to plants’ growth when deposited in the soil and animals when drained to water bodies such as rivers and lakes (Lichtfouse, Schwarzbauer & Robert 2005). Carbon dioxide also mixes with rain water to form carbonic acid which is harmful to both plants and animals, and is the major cause of climate change which might result to global warming. Nitrous oxide leads to brown clouds in urban areas. Nuclear power generation also impacts the environment in a big way. Though plants for generating nuclear power do not produce substances that are harmful to the environment as the other plants for generating electricity, the quarrying, handling, and shipping of nuclear fuel pollute the environment. Environmental pollution occurs during the production of microchip which is a component used in making electronic devices including computer motherboards, central processing units, and memory devices. The fabrication process of microchip involves many stages which encompasses four segments: Layering, oxidation, patterning, and etching. Layering involves placing of a tinny coat of either aluminum or silicon, oxidation involves changing of a silicon layer that is made of semiconductor to silicon dioxide layer, patterning involves making of channels into a layer, and etching involves altering the patterns made in the layers using solvent bombing. During the four stages, the microchips are immersed in chemicals. The chemicals used include lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium. Lead is harmful to the environment therefore causes harm to plants and animals. When inhaled or taken with food or water, lead may cause harm to various parts of the body including kidneys, blood systems, nervous system, and development of brain in offspring (Simeonov & Sargsyan 2008). Lead also builds up in the environment and affects soil and plants. It builds up in soil especially soil that contain huge content of organic materials. It is thereafter transported to the soil surface and can stay for a lot of years. In soils that are dug, the metal moves to the plants where they end up in the bodies of animals and microorganisms. Plants take up lead from the soil which accumulates in the leaves thus preventing enough light to be absorbed by the plant for photosynthesis (Lichtfouse, Schwarzbauer & Robert 2005). This results to undersized growing or killing of plants. Mercury is a chemical used for making various components of electronic devices such as batteries and casings. It negatively impacts the environment. When deposited in water bodies, mercury is taken by fish and other organisms living in water, easily enters the food chain, and can lead to damage of the brain, reduced fertility, and death (Simeonov & Sargsyan 2008). It can also interfere with the reproduction and development of fish. Cadmium is taken into the human body through eating and inhalation and can stay in the body for over thirty years, poisoning vital body parts such as the kidney. Chromium VI, a chemical used in the treatment of steel plates to prevent corrosion, can lead to various health problems such as cancer. Other chemicals and components used for making electronic devices that consume power include polyvinyl chloride, tin, silicon, barium, rhodium, boron, among others. Polyvinyl chloride is a type of plastic for making components used to house electronic devices and insulate cables. It is not easy to recycle forcing many users to burn them after use. Burning and manufacturing polyvinyl chloride produces furans and dioxins which pollute the environment (Lichtfouse, Schwarzbauer & Robert 2005). In addition, polyvinyl chloride used to make computer casing are treated using chemicals which disturb endocrine and escalate the threats of contacting different kinds of cancer. Improper disposal of electronic devices in landfills leads to pollution to the environment. Many computers are replaced because of the desire for computers with more processing speed and large amount of disk space. Since the number of new users of computers is increasing, new computers are produced and this will result to the increased amount of e-waste. About 20 to 50 million tons of e-waste are disposed into the landfills annually. This is approximately 5% of the total amount of waste disposed on earth. The disposal of e-waste in landfills leads to disposals of chemicals used to make the electronics products therefore causing pollution to the environment (Unhelkar 2011). Due to the adverse environmental impacts created by powered devices, many organizations are trying to come up with ways of reducing pollution caused by the devices. Many organizations such as Microsoft Corporation are implementing virtual desktops and replacing their desktop computers with thin clients in order to reduce the amount of power consumed by computers thereby conserve the environment. Thin clients reduce the amount of energy consumed since they do not have central processing units and random access memory which consume power because they are connected to a virtual desktop. In addition, Microsoft has developed a website for green IT which encourages people and organizations to implement green IT strategies in order to conserve the environment. It has also included calculators that help visitors to calculate their energy savings in the website. On the other hand, Northrop GrummanCorp has implemented tools for managing power that enables its desktop computers, laptops, and monitors to reduce the amount of power consumed when they are not in use. It is also consolidating its main data centers, which are more than one hundred, to three data centers. This will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere by millions of pounds (Aroca & Goncalves 2012). Similarly, Citigroup is committed to reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emitted to the atmosphere by implementing strategies of efficient energy use, designing buildings that enhance conservation of the environment, and educating people on the best ways to implement their information technology in order to go green. It has established e-waste recycling program that ensures that most of the electronic devices it receives for disposal are recycled into beneficial equipment. After realizing the large amount of power that go into waste when computers and peripheral devices are used, George Washington University made a step to ensure that the amount of power consumed by its data centers and servers is reduced. It has consolidated and virtualized its servers which enhance great reduction of energy consumption by its servers (Clark 2013). It is also aiming at implementing document imaging technology which would help it to reduce the amount of paper, toner, and energy used for printing and copying. Dell has realized the impacts of disposed electronic products on the environment and has established Dell outlets that collect Dell products that are to be disposed in various places around the world. It refurbishes the products that can be re-used and sells them back to clients, and sells parts of those that cannot be re-used to various organizations that can recycle them. Dell also powers the entire of its headquarters with power that is produced from technologies that conserve the environment. Honda on the other hand, has implemented various energy saving and environmental emission strategies through its Green Factory. It uses light fixtures that use energy efficiently and ensures that wastes from its manufacturing plants are not disposed in landfills. As a result, the company has been able to reduce the amount of carbon and other greenhouse gases emitted to the atmosphere by a larger percentage, and received many awards and certifications such as the Energy Star awards and third party IS14001 certifications. Honda also encourages its suppliers to practice green purchasing by reducing the amount of wastes that are disposed to landfills as a result of packaging, and practices green building. For example, it built its initial green facility that was LEED certified in Oregon in 1999. Many companies manufacturing electronic products have also made considerable strides that ensure that dangerous chemicals in their products are eliminated and old products are recycled. Nokia, Toshiba, Phillips, and HP have managed to eliminate some of the dangerous chemicals in their products. Phillips, for example, managed to manufacture and introduce to the market the first television that has no retardants of brominates flame and polyvinyl chloride. HP has introduced to the market many desktop and notebook computers that are void of dangerous chemicals. Recently, HP introduced a printer that is free from polyvinyl chloride. Nokia and Sony Ericson have managed to eliminate harmful chemicals such as phthalates, beryllium, antimony, polyvinyl chloride, and bromine flame retardants from their products (Greenpeace 2007). Nokia has also beefed up its take-back program in India, causing most of its products that have reached their end of life in the region to be taken back by the company for recycling or refurbishment. Panasonic implemented a recycling program that encourages consumers to take back their Panasonic electronic products that have reached their end of life for recycling and refurbishment (Greenpeace 2007). Though companies such as Samsung, LG, and Levono have managed to reduce the amount and number of harmful chemicals from their products, they have not managed to produce products that are totally free from the chemicals. HCL, Wipro, and Acer have also managed to introduce products free from bromine flame retardants and polyvinyl chloride. Siemens has managed to remove polyvinyl chloride and brominated flame retardants from many of its products. Apple is in the process of launching its new iPod line which will be void of mercury, polyvinyl chloride, and brominated flame retardants. The efforts made by many companies that manufacture electronic devices to implement ways of using energy efficiently, eliminate the amount of harmful chemicals in the products, and recycle or refurbish their products that have reached their end of life indicate that majority of them are environmental conscious and work towards conserving the environment. In addition, the clear timelines provided by some of the electronic devices manufacturing companies indicate that they are committed to ensuring that they eliminate all of the dangerous chemicals from their products and take-back all their products that have reached the end of life from consumers. Various organizations also advocate for clean, green, and sustainable environment. Greenpeace is among such organizations. Greenpeace exposes various challenges that face the environment and outlines ways to fight them in collaboration with various stakeholders including manufacturing organizations. In 2009, it introduced the Cool IT Challenge which appeals to information technology companies to implement technological practices that would protect the environment. Since then, it has been working closely with the manufacturers of electronic products to develop policies that would guide them to create sustainable environment. It has also been working closely with the electronic product companies to develop take back policies and eliminate the amount of chemical substances in their electronic products. Greenpeace International ensures that the electronic product manufacturing companies adhere to set guidelines and implement their e-waste take back policies by evaluating them periodically and publishing their progress for consumers and environmental-conscious individuals to see. This encourages the companies who are on the right track to continue with the spirit of conserving the environment and those lagging behind to put more effort towards fully implementing their e-waste and manufacturing policies. This will not only ensure that consumers get safe electronic products, but also reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted to the atmosphere thus fighting global warming. The organization is concerned about elimination of harmful chemicals from the electronic products as this not only prevent environmental pollution, but also make the products safe for recycling when they reach their end of life. Reference List Aroca, R. V. & Goncalves, L. M. G 2012, “Towards green data centers: A comparison of x86 and ARM architectures power efficiency,” Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing, 72(12), 1770-1780. Clark, J 2013, “Data center initiatives for going green,” The Datacenter Journal, viewed 7 September 2014, < http://www.datacenterjournal.com/dcj-magazine/data-center-incentives-green/>. Greenpeace 2007, How the Companies Line Up, 4th edition, viewed 7 September 2014, . Harris, J 2008, Green computing and green IT best practices on regulations and industry initiatives, virtualization, power management, materials recycling, and telecommuting, Emereo Pty Limited. Lichtfouse, E., Schwarzbauer, J. & Robert, D 2005, Environmental chemistry: Green chemistry and pollutants in ecosystems, Springer Science & Business Media. Simeonov, L. & Sargsyan, V 2008, Soil chemical pollution, risk assessment, remediation and security: Proceedings of the NATO advanced research workshop on soil chemical pollution, risk assessment, remediation and security, Sofia, Bulgaria, 23-26 May 2007, Springer Science & Business Media. Unhelkar, B 2011, Green IT strategies and applications: Using environmental intelligence, CRC Press. United States Environmental Defense 2002, Electricity Generation and Pollution, viewed 7 September 2014, . Read More