Climatologists Jack Hall and Jason Evans are huddled together inside a tent, with the weather outside plummeting quite many notches below zero. Hall is on his way from Washington DC to New York, to save his son from the cataclysmic climate conditions. When Evans strikes up a rather gloomy conversation.

Evans: What's going to happen to us?

Hall: What do you mean?

Evans: I mean “us”. Civilization. Everyone.

Hall: Mankind survived the last ice age. We're certainly capable of surviving this one. The only question is, will we be able to learn from our mistakes?

“Agreed we goofed up, but are we doing anything about it?” The Day After Tomorrow, the big budget Hollywood movie, raised this pertinent question. In some 124 minutes, the film depicted the horrors of global warming. For the first time people got talking about these issues, about how the earth was getting warmer each passing year, how the polar ice cap was melting, how the seas were rising, how the Himalayas were dissipating, how there were more hurricanes in Gulf of Mexico or why there was record rainfall in Mumbai on July 26, 2005. There were so many questions, but not many answers.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Bali is an effort to bring nations together to come to agreements on greenhouse gas reduction targets

That was till February last year, when the chairman of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra Pachauri, made a rather dour prediction, that the average temperature could rise as much as 4°C by the end of this century. He also predicted an increase in heat waves and the tropical storm intensity. And for once he settled the matter, as to who was to be blamed for all; “Human”, he said.

In the pursuit of plenty, we have cared little for the ill effects. From more cars on the streets to more transistors on the chip, humanity, in their immense greed for more, has done little for environment. But there seems to be a shift, a small but a sure shift. Finally, we begin to examine, what needs to be done vis-à-vis what should be done.

From Kyoto to Bali
The first definitive move was made in 1997, when the Kyoto Protocol was agreed upon. The protocol specifically spoke of reducing greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Till November 2007, 174 Countries have ratified the protocol. Of these, thirty-six developed countries (plus the EU as a party in its own right) are required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the levels specified for each of them in the treaty. One hundred and thirty-seven developing countries have ratified the protocol, including Brazil, China, and India, but have no obligation beyond monitoring and reporting emissions. But, since the US was not a signatory to the same, there were many issues about effectivity of the treaty.

The next big step was the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2007. Herein, the participating nations adopted the Bali roadmap as a two-year process to finalizing a binding agreement in 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Bali is meant to be a stepping-stone for the final step when all nations would commit themselves to binding agreements on greenhouse gas reduction targets.

The IT Angle
So, what does Kyoto, Bali, or for that matter Copenhagen portend for the IT industry? A lot, if you read the asterisks. So far, much of the talk on emissions and carbon credits has centered on pollution and aviation. But then, the IT datacenter and the computer in general is no less a culprit. According to a study by the UK government, companies can save up to $100 per PC per year in energy costs by simply seeing to that they are switched off when not in use. The data center consolidation can save quite much more. For instance, a Butler Group report found that by consolidating 250 dual-core servers on to 25 more powerful dual-core servers, an organization could save close to $280,000 per year in energy costs alone.

There have been talks that in the near future, there will be carbon emissions cap on organizations, thereby calling for a detailed study on the carbon footprint of each company. As a precautionary measure, companies need to consider the power and cooling impact that IT datacenters have, and adopt new technologies that can significantly reduce their use of energy, and hence the carbon footprint. According to experts, virtualization is one such technology that both a CIO and a CEO should take an active interest in.

Markets are abuzz with the speculation that government regulation on power saving is on the way. Many speculate that the same will come from EU, which is seen most active when it comes to environmental best practices. Once such legislations are in place, companies would have to chart their own carbon footprint and look at ways of reducing the costs.

Eco-friendly IT
In such a scenario, IT departments can take the lead within organizations, and create a new role for themselves in the process, by enabling organizations to be proactive in reducing energy consumption, and hence reduce their carbon footprint.

Also, much of the Indian IT industry is export oriented, hence going green can be a way to distinguish self in front of the clients, especially the American ones. Companies in the US have become very conscious to green issues due to a high level of public interest or out of social responsibility. Hence, an Indian IT firm could opt for green PR and showcase itself as an eco-friendly company.

When the Kyoto Protocol had come into play, countries like China and India were exempt from making any commitment in terms of carbon dioxide emissions. But by the time the talks shift to Copenhagen in two years, both the economic giants will be under pressure to do something substantial. The best option for Indian companies would be to start now itself. When Pachauri had presented the IPCC report last year, he had warned that, “what we do in the next two to three years will determine our future”. Time is running out on us, and the earlier we start doing something about it the better. Remember, every small thing counts, be it using the CFL bulb, or saving through a power-efficient server. Nothing is too big or small, when it comes to saving our earth.

Shashwat DC

shashwatc@cybermedia.co.in