Cebit 2008: Green and Cheap – Round Table Discussion in Hanover
Environmental protection and cost savings are not mutually exclusive. The hype topic Green IT was the subject of a press conference on Monday by CeBIT organizers Messe AG with representatives of various companies and a spokesperson for the global Climate Savers Initiative.
During its service life, a server consumes electricity worth as much as the server’s purchasing price; saving power not only cuts costs, it is also environmentally friendly – especially if you consider that the CO2 emission by the IT industry is about two percent and thus on a partition with CO2 emission caused by air traffic.
This is why this year’s CeBIT motto is Green IT.
Low-energy devices are one approach to greener IT. Their potential becomes apparent when you consider that about a billion people world wide use PCs, but only a few use efficient power management or avoid unnecessary standby operations.
Saving power is just one aspect. The WWF representative, Dr. Bernhard Bauske, pointed out that the next big challenge will be to consider a device’s total life cycle, from sourcing of raw materials and supplier’s operations, through production and production deployment, to disposal. Taking the ecological footprint into consideration, people would have to ask themselves if they really need to bin their cellphones every 18 months, or if a modular design and upgrades might help to improve environmental friendliness.
A Green IT Village at CeBIT demonstrates what offices and datacenters can achieve today. Virtualization releases enormous potential at the datacenter by consolidating up to ten servers on a single physical system. Each of the systems would consume US$ 700 to 800 worth of electricity a year. But modern office technology can drastically reduce power consumption. Even bigger savings can be made by avoiding business trips and using video conferencing. The CO2 footprint of a single transatlantic flight is equivalent to 80 teleconferencing sessions.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Rhino Linux Announces Latest "Quick Update"
If you prefer your Linux distribution to be of the rolling type, Rhino Linux delivers a beautiful and reliable experience.
-
Plasma Desktop Will Soon Ask for Donations
The next iteration of Plasma has reached the soft feature freeze for the 6.2 version and includes a feature that could be divisive.
-
Linux Market Share Hits New High
For the first time, the Linux market share has reached a new high for desktops, and the trend looks like it will continue.
-
LibreOffice 24.8 Delivers New Features
LibreOffice is often considered the de facto standard office suite for the Linux operating system.
-
Deepin 23 Offers Wayland Support and New AI Tool
Deepin has been considered one of the most beautiful desktop operating systems for a long time and the arrival of version 23 has bolstered that reputation.
-
CachyOS Adds Support for System76's COSMIC Desktop
The August 2024 release of CachyOS includes support for the COSMIC desktop as well as some important bits for video.
-
Linux Foundation Adopts OMI to Foster Ethical LLMs
The Open Model Initiative hopes to create community LLMs that rival proprietary models but avoid restrictive licensing that limits usage.
-
Ubuntu 24.10 to Include the Latest Linux Kernel
Ubuntu users have grown accustomed to their favorite distribution shipping with a kernel that's not quite as up-to-date as other distros but that changes with 24.10.
-
Plasma Desktop 6.1.4 Release Includes Improvements and Bug Fixes
The latest release from the KDE team improves the KWin window and composite managers and plenty of fixes.
-
Manjaro Team Tests Immutable Version of its Arch-Based Distribution
If you're a fan of immutable operating systems, you'll be thrilled to know that the Manjaro team is working on an immutable spin that is now available for testing.