Green IT More Than a Three Percent Solution?

IT infrastructure is definitely going green. From significant new regulations for IT equipment disposal to stringent energy-efficiency specifications for PCs and monitors to national standards for data center power savings, Green IT is an "in" topic. But many problems are unsolved. Information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure accounts for roughly 3 percent of global electricity usage and the same percentage of greenhouse gasses (GHGs), but it seems to have a far greater role in the green debate than that. Many of the solutions being introduced for reducing the carbon footprint via more efficient energy use worldwide are heavily dependent on IT - for example, improvements in the power grid, "energy-smart" buildings and cities, and so on. Here, the author examines green issues and solutions in IT infrastructure and give a brief history behind green computing.