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
-
Linux Servers Targeted by Akira Ransomware
A group of bad actors who have already extorted $42 million have their sights set on the Linux platform.
-
TUXEDO Computers Unveils Linux Laptop Featuring AMD Ryzen CPU
This latest release is the first laptop to include the new CPU from Ryzen and Linux preinstalled.
-
XZ Gets the All-Clear
The back door xz vulnerability has been officially reverted for Fedora 40 and versions 38 and 39 were never affected.
-
Canonical Collaborates with Qualcomm on New Venture
This new joint effort is geared toward bringing Ubuntu and Ubuntu Core to Qualcomm-powered devices.
-
Kodi 21.0 Open-Source Entertainment Hub Released
After a year of development, the award-winning Kodi cross-platform, media center software is now available with many new additions and improvements.
-
Linux Usage Increases in Two Key Areas
If market share is your thing, you'll be happy to know that Linux is on the rise in two areas that, if they keep climbing, could have serious meaning for Linux's future.
-
Vulnerability Discovered in xz Libraries
An urgent alert for Fedora 40 has been posted and users should pay attention.
-
Canonical Bumps LTS Support to 12 years
If you're worried that your Ubuntu LTS release won't be supported long enough to last, Canonical has a surprise for you in the form of 12 years of security coverage.
-
Fedora 40 Beta Released Soon
With the official release of Fedora 40 coming in April, it's almost time to download the beta and see what's new.
-
New Pentesting Distribution to Compete with Kali Linux
SnoopGod is now available for your testing needs