Notes on the lecture on Green IT delivered to Students of MBA (IT) Second year on 14 December, 2011
1. Syllabus:
Ecological Issues and Ethics related to use of IT (Green IT)
(a) Ecological and Environmental issues
(b) Substitute Products
(c) Refining Process
(d) Use of IT in Substitute Product and Process
2. Introduction:
For the purpose of this lecture we understand the IT industry as that industry which extensively uses computers and tools (e.g. Software, internet etc.) that require computers for its activities and services (i.e. for its economic activity).
Green refers to initiatives that lead to reduced consumption of resources (e.g. energy, water etc.) and minimization of waste generated (e.g. e-waste, paper waste etc.); “greening” generally refers to improvement in the environmental performance (e.g. efficiency in the use of resources – resource productivity, eco-efficiency) of a product or a process.
All human activities, including economic activities, affect the physical environment;
Environment” is the surrounding in which we live; our surrounding, also known as the Physical Environment, includes
(a) air, water and land,
(b) the inter-relationship among air, water and land and
(c) the inter-relationship between air, water and land and human beings, other living creatures, plants, micro-organisms and property.
The physical environment not only provides the resources (both renewable and non-renewable resources, amenity value etc. ) that are required for the economic activity, in which a business enterprise plays a part, but also acts as a sink for the waste (such as emissions, discharges, solid and hazardous waste) generated in the economic activity .
“Ecological” systems are a sub-set of the physical environment. The natural system, where animal and plant species which depend on each other (or one another) for their survival grow together and remain in equilibrium, along with the physical environment in which they live and grow is called an eco-system. There are many eco-systems (e.g. Forests, deserts, marine etc.) in the physical environment.
3. Environmental and Ecological Issues
Use of resources, emissions, discharges, generation of waste etc., are some of the consequences of business activities (called aspects) that lead to environmental impacts, such as air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, depletion of non-renewable resources etc. Such environmental impacts may lead to ecological impacts such as “fish kill”, “death of trees”, “distortions in organs of animals and parts of plants” etc. Some impacts may lead to poor productivity of the general eco-system.
These issues are not confined to only the IT industry; most of these issues are common for the whole industry sector of the economy. For example, the use of energy, say for operating a computer, indirectly leads to global warming, which in turn contributes to climate change. For each KWh energy we use, the thermal power plant operating with coal as a fuel is likely to emit about 800 -1200 mg of carbon dioxide. Accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere results in the “greenhouse” effect, warming the earth. Thus our use of energy contributes to the global environmental issue of “climate change”; “Climate Change” may lead to many ecological issues like “expanding deserts”, “rising oceans”, “melting arctic ice” , “disappearing glaciers” etc. Environmental and ecological impacts of our activities go beyond our premises, many times seriously affecting the earth and its natural resources, including human beings.
It is, therefore, the responsibility of every citizen to consciously reduce his/her impact (ecological footprint) on the environment; this is required more so for business organizations. Conscious decisions and actions by business organizations, including the IT industry, to reduce the consumption of energy, water, paper, plastics etc., and to reduce waste generated, pollutant emitted and discharged, can significantly improve their environmental performance.
4. Substitute Products
Like human beings products, including the computers that the IT industry uses extensively, also have a life-cycle. The product life-cycle consists of (a) Design Phase, (b) Manufacturing Phase, (c) Use phase and (d) Disposal phase as given in the figure below:
Any product put on the market, including products used in the IT industry, causes environmental impacts during its manufacturing, use and disposal phases; in addition environmental impacts arise in the supply chain (both upstream – supplier and downstream – dealer, and the logistics involved in moving the raw materials and products to the appropriate locations).
Environmental impacts of products, i.e. life-cycle environmental impacts, during their manufacturing, use and disposal can be reduced by properly designing the products; such a design process is called Eco-Design (Ecologically sound and Economically attractive design). Eco-design aims at the least possible life-cycle environmental impact for the product while at the same time keeping the product economically viable. In general the following focal areas are addressed in eco-design:
(a) Mass
(b) Energy
(c) Substances
(d) Recyclability
(e) Packaging
(f) Life of the product
Mass: When the mass of the product is reduced, it has many consequences such as the use of less resources like plastics, metals, ceramics, glass etc., use of less process chemicals, need for less packaging, and the generation of less waste at the end of life as well as during the manufacturing
Energy: About 80 % of the energy consumed by a consumer electronic or IT product throughout its lifecycle is consumed during the use phase; the enormous impact of a small change in energy consumption of the product can be appreciated by calculating the energy saved if all the computers used in India have been designed to consume 5W less than the normal consumption. Assuming that the computers are used for about 10 hrs a day, the saving in energy consumption will work out to be 1500000 x 5 x 10 /1000 = 750000 KWh (i.e. assuming a computer penetration of 15 per 1000, and a population of one hundred crores). A small improvement at the design stage will result in large effects at the time of the use of the product. An added advantage is the use of batteries for a longer time which reduces the waste generated in a unit time. Reduction in energy consumption of products is considered as a positive contribution towards reducing green house effect.
Substances: Electronics and IT products contain many toxic substances; to name a few, they may contain Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Chromium (VI), Polybromobiphenylethers, Polybromobiphenyls etc. All these substances have adverse effect on human health; for example, long term exposure to mercury (beyond certain threshold levels) may lead to a disease called Minamata disease. Burning of plastics containing polybromobiphenylethers may generate dioxins, which are proven to be carcinogens (cancer causing substances); substances like bisphenol-A are known to be endocrine suppressants. Chromium (VI) is known to cause skin cancer. It is desirable to eliminate the use of such substances in products that are used in the IT industry. Governments intervene to ensure that these substances are not used in electrical and electronics products. For example, Europe has come out with a directive called the “Restriction of Hazardous Substances” (RoHS) in electronics and electrical equipments. Similar legislation has been brought up in India
Recyclability: Designing a product so that its parts can be re-used or recycled at the end of its useful life helps to conserve resources and to reduce the quantity of waste reaching incinerators and landfills. Most of the bulk materials used in electrical and electronics (including IT) products can be recycled; for example, thermo-plastics parts can be recycled if they are not painted or bonded with glue or welded or insert moulded. Most of the metals can be recycled provided they are not welded to other metals. There are many methods of design, called Design for Disassembly, that can be used to make the product recyclable at the end of life.
Packaging: Packaging uses a lot of materials and the use of these materials is for a short time between the product leaving the manufacturing unit till the user/customer opens the packaging to get the product protected by it. In general packaging has three functions, viz, protection of the product from damages during transportation and storage, attracting the customer to the product and informing the customer about the product and its uses. Once the customer opens the package, the packaging material becomes a waste. This waste adds to the already overloaded municipal waste stream. EcoDesign aims at reducing the packaging mass continuously without compromising on the three major functions of packaging. In many countries use of PVC (Polyvinylchloride) for packaging (blister packaging) has been banned. Many countries have also banned the use of Polyurethane Foams (containing CFCs) for packaging.
Long Life: One of the major thrust areas for eco-design is the improvement in the useful life of the product. In these days of continuous technological obsolescence this is a tough task for a designer; in spite of pressures from various groups an Eco-Designer always tries to design a robust product that has a longer life than the existing product. For the environment, a long life product means, less waste sent to landfills and incinerators in unit time. Long life helps to improve the resource productivity.
Thus, continuous improvement in the environmental performance of electronics and IT products manufactured is expected if eco-design principles are incorporated at the Design Stage. Substitution of existing products in use by those which have been ecodesigned can have significant impact on the environmental performance of business organizations.
5. Refining Processes:
While the IT business organization does not have a direct control over the processes followed in the supplier (or IT products) organization, it can have an influence on the production processes. For example, many electronics and IT companies now require their suppliers to be ISO-14001 Environmental Management System certified; ISO-14001 certification enables organization to study their products and processes for their environmental impacts and to reduce the impacts through systematic projects and processes. For example, many organizations have now require their suppliers to avoid organic solvents like carbon tetrachloride (CTC), Trichloroethylene (Tri), Perchloroethylene (Per), Benzene, Toluene, Xylene etc. Such influence on the supplier is useful in preventing the employees of the supplier from ill health effects of these chemical substances. Many electronics companies (especially those in Europe ) require that the supplier does not use Lead in solder used for the soldering operation. They also require their suppliers to be energy efficient (process are redesigned to become efficient), resource productive or eco-efficient so that the supply chain is efficient and the total ecological foot-print of the organization is reduced as much as possible. Clean Technologies (i.e. environmentally sound technologies) are promoted throughout the world in the manufacturing sector, either through legislation or through peer pressure (or market forces).
One of the major issues for the IT industries is the use of large amount of energy for maintaining its infrastructure as well as the offices. A lot of programmes have been launched to reduce the consumption of energy in the IT industry, as a part of its commitment to Climate Change targets.
6. Role of IT in Substitute Product and Refining Process
While Substitute products and refined processes have effect on the environmental performance of the IT industry, it is also true that the IT industry has helped the suppliers to come out with products and processes that are environmentally sound. Competition in the IT industry (and electronics industry in general) as resulted in the shrinking of products with more and more capabilities. Over a period of the last twenty to thirty years the price of IT equipments has fallen continuously indicating the influence of the industry on the suppliers of products to IT and electronics industry. Robotics as a branch has helped to improve efficiencies and reduce rejections in the manufacturing industry. IT services have enabled the reduction in travel, especially international travel, thereby reducing the carbon footprint of frequent travelers. Overall IT industry has brought in revolution in the efficiency and the speed with which business is carried out, cutting out waste and reducing environmental impacts.
7. Concluding Remarks
As future managers you should be sensitive to what you do; the decisions taken at one point may have consequences elsewhere. If you are aware of the environmental consequences of your decisions (be in the purchase of computers, servers etc., or disposal of used computers), you will be able to reduce risks to your organization and improve its green credentials.
