Catastrophic natural disasters have in recent years become ever-present reminders of the power of nature. Events such as the devastating earthquake in Sichuan province, hurricane Ike in the US, and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, have shocked the world and been seen as a wake-up call for the human race as it continues on its relentless path of economic growth, development and consumption.

Even in our day-to-day lives, the hallmarks of global change are apparent, in the sprawl of cities over the countryside, the manifestation of climate change in warmer winters and more severe heat waves, dust-laden air in our cities and pollution in our waters.

Home to some of the world’s fastest developing regions, it is perhaps no surprise that such changes are so noticeable here in Asia Pacific. With its huge number of territories, rich diversity of ethnicities and cultures, and supporting almost 4 billion people or 60% of the world’s population, our region is experiencing exponential increases in consumption. China and India will account for 45% of the increase in global primary energy demand by 2030 – for instance, with both countries more than doubling their energy use over that period.

Pressing environmental challenges include urban air quality, freshwater stress, agricultural land use (a threat to food security) and increased waste. What has all this got to do with the IT industry? Well, according to analyst firm Gartner, at present the IT industry is seen as part of the environmental problem, instead of being part of the solution. Perhaps with good reason, it is estimated that IT does as much damage to the environment as the airline industry. IDC estimates that roughly 50 cents (US) is spent on energy for every dollar of computer hardware and this is expected to increase by 54% to 71 cents by 2010.

What are some of the other steps that the technology industry should be taking to help face some of these menacing challenges? The good news is that there is a growing range of options available for reducing and changing consumption patterns as well as dealing with the resulting electronic waste. Here are some key considerations for the IT industry and users alike:

Addressing corporate computing environments
Compared to households, data centres and business computing environments are large users of energy, and indeed energy efficiency has emerged as one of the most critical issues facing the data centre today. It will take the combined efforts of industry players to advance energy efficiencies here, and non-profit consortium The Green Grid has been established for precisely this purpose.

The group works to define new policies to improve performance and reduce hardware power requirements; developing, adopting and promoting new industry-wide standards, best practices, and technologies designed to optimize today’s data centre environments.

Green manufacturing
Smart uses of technology can also go a long way to improving the green credentials of manufacturing, across multiple industries – providing opportunities and impetus for new innovations by the IT community. From deploying alternative energy sources such as solar or wind power, implementing new waste water treatment or recycling solutions, to increasing use of ocean versus air shipping, CO2 emissions and water pollution can be significantly reduced.

One simple way for manufacturers to improve their environmental protection measures is to redesign packaging to reduce their use of plastic and paper, aiming for 100% recycled and recyclable product packaging.

Lobbying for new policies
Governments throughout Asia are taking a stance and encouraging corporations and consumers to adopt green practices and technologies. While ongoing initiatives and awards such as the National Excellent CSR Fulfilment Award (China), The Prime Minister’s Industrial Awards (Thailand), Singapore Environmental Achievement Award, Clean Production Enterprise Award (Shenzhen) and Kanto Area Chairman’s Award (Fujisawa) should be encouraged and supported, there is still some way to go before government policy frameworks in Asia are on a par with other regions.

Meanwhile, Gartner expects more collaboration between enterprises and governments to accelerate eco-friendly efforts. And as CIOs are increasingly pressured to cut IT costs, especially in these times of financial downturn, there will be even more demand for smart innovations and adoptions of IT that are both green and cost-effective.

Too much to ask for?
Forward-looking technology leaders are seeking ways to simultaneously incorporate environmental protection into the home, corporate computing environment and their own manufacturing operations. For instance, the new EcoTrac symbol used in the hard disk drive industry identifies products that provide benefits to customers through power efficiency and minimal impact to the environment over the product lifecycle. Similarly, new CoolSpin hard drive technology delivers high levels of power efficiency and quiet operation for digital video applications. CoolSpin drives use a low-power motor design which, in turn, lowers energy costs for consumers. On the manufacturing side, the Super Eco-Factory certification was created as a way to develop and promote industry-leading environmental practices and to apply them globally to hard disk drive manufacturing facilities. Such innovative thinking is attracting the attention of venture capital investors, who have high hopes for green-tech initiatives. The technology industry will be eagerly anticipating successful listings to bolster and validate the burgeoning green technology sector.

So, as we have seen, environmental protection today is somewhat more complex than the old “3 Rs” rule of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,” and IT firms have a major role to play in driving towards creative solutions for home and corporate users, as well as manufacturers, while governments should continue to foster collaboration to accelerate environmental protection measures. We can no longer ignore the wake-up call to radically rethink our relationship with the environment, for the good of industry as well as society.