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Green IT seems to be an ideal solution at a time when the degradation of the environment, especially damage caused by companies, is increasing exponentially. The conservation of energy becomes a critical issue in ensuring a green environment. Greening of IT involves efforts through which computer technology can be used meaningfully by acquainting both the corporate and consumer segments with issues such as energy-efficient usage of central processing units (CPUs), servers, and peripherals, proper handling of e-waste, server virtualization, data center energy efficiency, and regulatory compliance.
  
One of the imperatives of this green IT initiative should be the provision of reliable and clean renewable energy to developing nations. This is needed to discourage developing nations from using recycled e-waste, which finds its way to such regions. The recycled e-waste is often utilized as a mode of second-hand business, little realizing its adverse effects. Developing nations are forced to make use of conventional energy instead of clean energy because they are unable to bear the huge upfront costs required for the latter. Of late, certain organizations such as MicroEnergy Credits Corporation (MEC) have taken the responsibility to finance clean renewable energy to the developing nations in order to save environmental degradation.
  
In a bid to act in an environmentally responsible manner and, thereby, enhance their corporate image, a growing number of companies are now adopting green measures, such as cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions in order to minimize pollution and global warming, and using natural resources more efficiently by undertaking recycling. Some of the prominent companies are Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, and L'Oreal. Such measures have earned them accolades from both the consumer community and environmental groups. Timberland, a leading name in the footwear, garments, and accessories industry has also decided to become a carbon neutral company by cutting down on carbon emissions, using renewable energy and by continuing to support environmental projects.
  
Going forward, one of the stumbling blocks to such well-meaning efforts seems to be the possible economic downturn in the US and other Western countries; the downturn is expected to have an adverse effect on the global economy as well. An economic slowdown will compel organizations to reconsider their spending on greening measures, which also include green IT initiatives. The US — which is the highest manufacturing ground of e-waste — refuses to take any responsibility in ensuring an eco-friendly environment. It dumps the largest amount of e-waste in developing nations such as India, China, and Nigeria.
  
We are of the opinion that in order to bring about far-reaching positive changes in the environment, the government, corporate, and consumer segments need to cooperate and coordinate at a global level. Moreover, enterprise budgets for green IT initiatives need to be increased.
  
Greening of IT is a concept that has drawn the attention of corporate organizations, governments, consumers, and environmental like. It refers to measures that can be implemented to restrict environmental damage caused by the use of IT equipment.
  
There are various reasons why enterprises of all sizes are showing a keen interest in adopting green solutions. Issues such as electronic waste (e-waste) and data center cooling contribute heavily to global warming, which, in turn, has prompted the implementation of green IT measures. IT vendors are increasingly launching green products that are eco-friendly. Apart from corporates, governments have also started introducing regulations to ensure energy efficiency, thereby supporting the greening of IT initiative.
  
Although greening of IT has brought about some significant changes, it has still not reached the mainstream adoption stage.
  
Our partners at Analysts Perspectives present an overview of analyst observations about the concept of greening of IT and their opinions and predictions about its future prospects.
  
Some key findings include power and cooling will be the second-highest cost for data centers by 2009; by 2011, technology (such as cooling) will save power and cooling costs to a certain extent; and over USD 5 billion per year is spent on powering computers in Asia-Pacific, with over 66 percent of this spending wasted on systems that are on idle mode.