It may not seem much but the IT industry already makes for about two per cent of the total electricity consumption in the world. This is rising every year as more and more people not only buy computers, but also log into social media sites, consume increasing hours of Internet video and store everything on the cloud.
India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh says he closes his ears every time leaders from the IT industry talk green. And if any of you have ever visited a data centre where thousands of computer servers are kept in rooms chilled at 18 to 20 degrees Celsius, you get an idea about the kind of energy consumption I am talking about.
To make matters worse, due to erratic electricity supply, most data centres and IT offices in India are powered by diesel generators, which, despite advances in technology, are not what one would call environment friendly. Indeed, India's much-touted mobile revolution has come on the back of diesel generators. Tens of thousands of gensets can be found across the country powering cellphone towers. Read the full report here.
Source: Kushan Mitra, Business Today.
