IT Industry Working Toward Energy Efficiency, Report Finds

A study by Climate Savers Computing Initiative shows what CompTIA called a "sizable reduction" in the annual CO2 emissions associated with IT equipment. According to the study, the IT sector has reduced CO2 emission associated with IT equipment by more than 32 million metric tons worldwide since 2007.

CompTIA, a nonprofit trade association for the IT industry, is a sponsor of CSCI, a global industry coalition formed in 2007 to reduce the environmental impact of new and emerging IT equipment through energy efficiency. The study was conducted by Natural Logic to assess progress of CSCI's goal of reducing annual CO2 emissions from the IT sector by 54 million metric tons by June 2011. The research showed that annual CO2 emissions from IT equipment have decreased by 32 million to 36 million metric tons worldwide since 2007, equivalent to taking nine coal-fired power plants offline and equal to more than $2 billion in annual energy savings.

Todd Thibodeaux, president and CEO of CompTIA, said the results of the study indicate that the industry is on the right track. "Our members remain committed and dedicated to CSCI's energy efficiency mission," he said. "We look forward to helping achieve even greater CO2 emission reductions in the coming years."

Additionally, the study indicated the IT sector is on target to achieve CSCI's reduction goal by the end of its 2010 fiscal year in June 2011. The organization said it plans to expand its focus to include commercial and home networking systems and devices. CSCI will begin by setting new energy efficiency criteria for networking technologies. These new criteria will be developed by working with members and through alliances with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and others, the organization stated.

As part of this expansion, commercial and residential routers and switches, commercial WLAN, and security and access devices will be incorporated into the organization's environmental mission, with the goal of reducing annual CO2 emissions by an additional 38 million metric tons by 2015. CSCI said this will result in $5 billion in annual energy cost savings.

The study covered the first three program years of CSCI, from July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2010. Data was compiled by examining member companies' progress on power-management adoption and market data, including shipment and installed-base information, PSU efficiency levels, number of units sold worldwide, operating systems in use, market research, and estimates from industry analysts.

"As the number of networked devices continues to increase, the energy demands on networks and networking equipment will increase in step," said Rick Bauer, director of product management for CompTIA. "With this growth, there is significant energy and cost savings potential. CSCI and CompTIA recognize that in order to achieve end-to-end computing energy efficiency, we must address the energy used by connected devices and their interaction with the network."