Embracing Green Computing for a sustainable tech future

Abstract

Going green is the emerging IT trend in the context of human-induced natural calamities like global warming. With Green Computing still in its infancy, some prevalent obstacles hinder progress: most hardware components do not meet environmental standards yet, the greenhouse gas emissions generated by electronic waste are expected to persist and the demand for electricity to power data centers is projected to double by 2030. The scope of this paper is to emphasize influential green practices in the IT industry. To reinforce these ideas, the data was collected from international journals, relevant websites, and organizations. Analysis reveals that one operational computer emits

approximately a ton of carbon dioxide annually. Therefore, one can reduce energy consumption by regularly powering off the inactive PC given the hard drive’s durability. Another viable alternative

is adopting eco-friendly hardware based on a circular economy since it reduces electronic waste and its dire consequences, including illegal waste disposal in developing countries. Additionally, embracing the Cloud enables one to use virtual servers instead of physical ones, which cuts down the need for hardware. Finally, this study highlights that ecological catastrophes act as a catalyst for sustainable practices in the IT sector.