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GREEN COMPUTING: TECHNOLOGIES, APPLICATIONS AND CHALLENGES

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 GREEN COMPUTING: TECHNOLOGIES, APPLICATIONS AND
CHALLENGES

BY

IBRAHIM UMAR KONTAGORA

(B.Sc Computer Science, M.Sc Information Technology),

SENIOR LECTURER. ([email protected], Mobile: +2348051302033)

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

NIGER STATE POLYTECHNIC, ZUNGERU

ABSTRACT
This research work focuses on green computing; its technology and basic applications. Green computing is said
to have a vital effect on business work and its operations. Businesses seeking a cost-effective way to responsibly
recycle large amounts of computer equipment face a more complicated process. They also have the option of
contacting the manufacturers and arranging recycling options. However, in cases where the computer
equipment comes from a wide variety of manufacturers, it may be more efficient to hire a third-party contractor
to handle the recycling arrangements. There exist companies that specialize in corporate computer disposal
services both offer disposal and recycling services in compliance with local laws and regulations. Such
companies frequently also offer secure data elimination services.

KEYWORDS: - Green Computing, Green IT, Systems, Product, Energy Efficiency

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Green computing is the study and practice of using computing resources efficiently. The
goals are similar to green chemistry; that is reduce the use of hazardous materials, maximize
energy efficiency during the product's lifetime, and promote recyclability or biodegradability
of defunct products and factory waste. Taking into consideration the popular use of
information technology industry, it has to lead a revolution of sorts by turning green in a
manner no industry has ever done before. It is worth emphasizing that this “green
technology” should not be just about sound bites to impress activists but concrete action and
organizational policy. Opportunities lie in green technology like never before in history and
organizations are seeing it as a way to create new profit centers while trying to help the
environmental cause. The plan towards green IT should include new electronic products and
services with optimum efficiency and all possible options towards energy savings (Mike,
2004).

1
The primary objective of such a program is to account for the triple bottom line, an expanded
spectrum of values and criteria for measuring organizational (and societal) success. Modern
IT systems rely upon a complicated mix of people, networks and hardware; as such, a green
computing initiative must be systemic in nature, and address increasingly sophisticated
problems. Elements of such as solution may comprise items such as end user satisfaction,
management restructuring, regulatory compliance, disposal of electronic waste,
telecommuting, virtualization of server resources, energy use, thin client solutions, and return
on investment (ROI). Today, data volumes are doubling every 18 months, and enterprises
want to keep more data online and provide access to more users. The impact is huge increases
in the amount of hardware infrastructure needed, resulting in corresponding increases in
power, cooling and data center space needs. The recycling of old computers raises an
important privacy issue. The old storage devices still hold private information, such as
emails, passwords and credit card (Schuhmann, 2005).

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Typically, green computing systems or products take into account the so-called triple bottom
line of people, planet, and profit. This differs somewhat from traditional or standard business
practices that focus mainly on the economic viability of a computing solution. These focuses
are similar to those of green chemistry; reduction of the use of hazardous materials such as
lead at the manufacturing and recycling stages, maximized energy efficiency during the
product's lifetime, and recyclability or biodegradability of both a defunct product and of any
factory waste (Jones, 2006).

There’s no simple path to green computing, but there are some low hanging fruit,” Curtis
notes in “Green: The New Computing Coat of Arms?” a paper he co-authored with Joseph
Williams, the CTO of WW Enterprise Sales at Microsoft. “You can spin the dial on some
straightforward actions, such as orienting racks of servers in a data center to exhaust their
heat in a uniform direction, thus reducing overall cooling cost. A comprehensive plan for
achieving green computing really does require an architectural approach.

David Wang, the data center architect for Teradata, has specialized in thermal management
solutions for the Miamisburg, OH-based data warehousing company since 1996. “I’ve raised
the issue [of green computing] because, for me, it’s both a business question and an ethical
question,” Wang says. “Look at the basic fact, the one that has to be addressed: Power
consumption at the server level has increased along with performance increase, and business

2
needs have grown even faster.” More attention must be devoted to data centers’ ever-
increasing power density and heat removal, Wang says. “In the past, the sole focus was on IT
equipment processing power and associated equipment spending. The infrastructure-power,
cooling, data center space-was always assumed to be available and affordable,” he says.
“Now the infrastructure is becoming a limiting factor.”
Green computing represents a responsible way to address the issue of global warming. By
adopting green computing practices, business leaders can contribute positively to
environmental stewardship and protect the environment while also reducing energy and paper
costs.

1.2 LITERATURE REVIEW

(San, 2010) defined green computing as "the study and practice of designing, manufacturing, using,
and disposing of computers, servers, and associated subsystems such as monitors, printers, storage
devices, and networking and communications systems efficiently and effectively with minimal or no
impact on the environment (Curry et al., 2012) lays out four paths along which he believes the
environmental effects of computing should be addressed: Green use, green disposal, green design, and
green manufacturing. Green computing can also develop solutions that offer benefits by "aligning all
IT processes and practices with the core principles of sustainability, which are to reduce, reuse, and
recycle; and finding innovative ways to use IT in business processes to deliver sustainability benefits
across the enterprise and beyond" Modern IT systems rely upon a complicated mix of people,
networks, and hardware; as such, a green computing initiative must cover all of these areas as well. A
solution may also need to address end user satisfaction, management restructuring, regulatory
compliance, and return on investment (ROI). There are also considerable fiscal motivations for
companies to take control of their own power consumption; "of the power management tools
available, one of the most powerful may still be simple, plain, common sense (Schuhmann, 2005).

(Curry et al., 2012), editor’s note: More and more, organizations around the globe recognize
their responsibility to protect and sustain the environment. This article describes the benefits
of and first steps toward a green computing strategy. Read “HP and the Environment” to
learn what HP is doing to reduce its environmental footprint. Faced with the stark realities of
global warming and rising energy costs, government agencies and private firms worldwide
are examining ways to protect the environment. (Bharti, 2011), addresses what is increasingly
being perceived as a crisis, there is a growing global movement to implement more
environmentally friendly computing “Green computing” is the name attached to this
movement, which represents an environmentally responsible way to reduce power and

3
environmental waste. (Jones, 2010). Toward this goal, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency’s Energy Star program has developed compliance requirements for computer
equipment. The U.S. House of Representatives Resolution 5646, (2006), calls for the EPA’s
Energy Star program to research:

•The amount of power consumed by corporate and federal data centers

•Industry measures to develop energy-efficient servers
•Possible incentives to convince businesses to use energy-saving technologies

Seminar Report on Green Computing, by Mr. Nikunj P. Agrawal; under Prof. Mr. Gulhane
(Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Sipna Shikshan Prasark Mandal’s
College of Engineering and Technology; Amravati University, Amravati) (2012); the
research work discusses Green computing as the environmentally responsible use of
computers and related resources. Such practices include the implementation of energy-
efficient central processing units, servers, peripherals as well as reduced resource
consumption and proper disposal of electronic waste. One of the earliest initiatives toward
green computing in the United States was the voluntary labeling program known as Energy
Star. It was conceived by the Environmental Protection Agency (2012) to promote energy
efficiency in hardware of all kinds. The Energy Star label became a common sight, especially
in laptops and displays. Similar programs have been adopted in Europe and Asia. It also
discusses the importance of green computing and its applications including some of its
technology. As 21st century belongs to computers, gizmos and electronic items, energy issues
will get a serious ring in the coming days, as the public debate on carbon emissions, global
warming and climate change gets hotter. If we think computers are nonpolluting and consume
very little energy we need to think again (Curry et al., 2012).

REMOTE CONFERENCING & TELECOMMUTING STRATEGIES: Given recent jumps

in fuel costs and greater awareness of harm caused by greenhouse gas emissions, many
companies wish to reduce travel to cut costs and decrease negative impact on the
environment. The initiatives in this study consist of the following:

- Remote Conferencing & Collaboration

- Video-conferencing and teleconferencing implementations between facilities or

between office and client sites.

4
 - Online collaboration environments. Telecommuting Strategy & Capabilities.

- Virtual Private Network (VPN), remote access, and unified or voice communications
capabilities to enable access from home and other remote locations.

- Policies and strategies allowing or encouraging employees to work from home;

Policies allowing or enforcing employees to work “Four-Tens” (4 days a week, 10
hours a day). Cutting travel costs where it counts

Hopper is among the more conspicuous and outspoken pioneers in the green computing
movement—a multifaceted, global effort to reduce energy consumption and promote
sustainability. Proposed and existing strategies range from the practical to the fanciful, and
include government regulations, industry initiatives, environmentally friendly computers
made of recyclable materials, and Hopper’s suggestion of a personal energy meter. Much of
the green computing movement’s focus today is on data centers, which have been lambasted
as “the SUVs of the tech world” for their enormous and wasteful consumption of electricity.
The approximately 6,000 data centers in the United States, for instance, consumed roughly 61
billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy in 2006, according to Lewis Curtis, a strategic
infrastructure architect at Microsoft. The total cost of that energy, $4.5 billion, was more than
the cost of electricity used by all the color televisions in the U.S. in 2006, Curtis says.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON GREEN COMPUTING, TECHNOLOGY AND

INNOVATION (ICGCTI), held AT; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on March 18 – 20, 2013 as
part of The World Congress on Computing and Information Technology. The event was held
over three days, with presentations delivered by researchers from the international commu-
nity, including presentations from keynote speakers and state-of-the-art lectures. Some of the
topic discussed is;

 Green IT metrics, maturity models, standards, and regulations

 Green business process reengineering and management
 Green computing models, methodologies and paradigms
 Green design, manufacture, use, disposal, and recycling of computers and communi-
cation systems
 Green networking and communication
 Green software engineering Benefits of, and barriers to, adopting greener IT practices
 Carbon management policies and ecology related issues with ICT

5
The Department of Energy (DOE) reports that data centers consumed 1.5% of all electricity
in the U.S. in 2006, and their power demand is growing 12% a year. If data centers’ present
rate of consumption continues, Curtis warns, they will consume about 100 billion kWh of
energy at an annual cost of $7.4 billion by 2011. The federal government wants data centers’
energy consumption to be reduced by at least 10% by 2011. That translates into an energy
savings equivalent to the electricity consumed by a million average U.S. households,
according to Paul Sheathing, a spokesman for DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy (Curry et al, 2012).

In a world where business is transacted 24/7 across every possible channel available,
companies need to collect, store, track and analyze enormous volumes of data—everything
from click-stream data and event logs to mobile call records and more. But this all comes
with a cost to both businesses and the environment. Data warehouses and the sprawling data
centers that house them use up a huge amount of power, both to run legions of servers and to
cool them. The IT industry has begun to address energy consumption in the data center
through a variety of approaches including the use of more efficient cooling systems,
virtualization, blade servers and storage area networks (SANs). But a fundamental challenge
remains (Jones, 2006). As data volumes explode, traditional, appliance-centric data
warehousing approaches can only continue to throw more hardware at the problem. This can
quickly negate any green gains seen through better cooling or more tightly packed servers. To
minimize their hardware footprint, organizations also need to shrink their "data footprint" by
addressing how much server space and resources their information analysis requires in the
first place. A combination of new database technologies expressly designed for analysis of
massive quantities of data and affordable, resource-efficient, open-source software can help
organizations save money and become greener (Koomey, 2012).

GREEN IT FOR BUSINESS -Hewlett Packard Limited: It is becoming widely understood

that the way in which we are behaving as a society is environmentally unsustainable, causing
irreparable damage to our planet. Rising energy prices, together with government-imposed
levies on carbon production, are increasingly impacting on the cost of doing business, making
many current business practices economically unsustainable. It is becoming progressively
more important for all businesses to act (and to be seen to act) in an environmentally
responsible manner, both to fulfill their legal and moral obligations, but also to enhance the
brand and to improve corporate image. Companies are competing in an increasingly ‘green’

6
market, and must avoid the real and growing financial penalties that are increasingly being
levied against carbon production.

IT has a large part to play in all this. With the increasing drive towards centralized mega data
centers alongside the huge growth in power hungry blade technologies in some companies,
and with a shift to an equally power-hungry distributed architecture in others, the IT function
of business is driving an exponential increase in demand for energy, and, along with it, is
having to bear the associated cost increases. You may be wondering why we haven’t
mentioned carbon offsetting as an option to improve an organization’s environmental
performance. Well, a lot of organizations are using carbon offsetting (where you buy an
‘offset’ for the carbon dioxide emissions you produce – usually a payment towards
emissions- reducing projects) as a ‘get out of jail free’ card and claiming carbon neutrality
because they’re planting a forest or outsourcing their manufacturing. While this is all very
well, the projects need to be genuine, authenticated and sustainable, rather than simply
shifting the blame, or excusing a lack of action. We suggest that you keep offsetting as a
backstop to compensate for those unavoidable emissions that remain after you’ve taken all
possible measures to improve your performance in the first place (HP Limited 4th Edition).

1.3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Five Simple Steps to Green Computing

As at Oct. 2012, there are new performance requirements to qualify for the Energy Star rating
for desktop and notebook computers, workstations, integrated computers, desktop-derived
servers and game consoles. These specifications go into effect on July 2012. But businesses
don’t have to wait until then to initiate more environmentally-friendly computing practices.
Here are five first steps you can take toward a green computing strategy (Schuhmann, 2005).

1. Develop a sustainable green computing plan. Discuss with your business leaders
the elements that should be factored into such a plan, including organizational policies and
checklists. Such a plan should include recycling policies, recommendations for disposal of
used equipment, government guidelines and recommendations for purchasing green computer
equipment. Green computing best practices and policies should cover power usage, reduction
of paper consumption, as well as recommendations for new equipment and recycling old
machines. Organizational policies should include communication and implementation.

7
2. Recycle. Discard used or unwanted electronic equipment in a convenient and
environmentally responsible manner. Computers have toxin metals and pollutants that can
emit harmful emissions into the environment. Never discard computers in a landfill. Recycle
them instead through manufacturer programs such as HP's Planet Partners recycling service
or recycling facilities in your community. Or donate still-working computers to a non-profit
agency (Bharti, 2011).

3. Make environmentally sound purchase decisions. Purchase Electronic Product

Environmental Assessment Tool registered products. EPEAT is a procurement tool promoted
by the nonprofit Green Electronics Council to:

• Help institutional purchasers evaluate, compare and select desktop computers, notebooks
and monitors based on environmental attributes

• Provide a clear, consistent set of performance criteria for the design of products

• Recognize manufacturer efforts to reduce the environmental impact of products by reducing

or eliminating environmentally sensitive materials, designing for longevity and reducing
packaging materials

All EPEAT-registered products must meet minimum requirements in eight areas of

environmental impact and be energy efficient to reduce emissions of climate-changing
greenhouse gases. To demonstrate corporate social and environmental performance,
manufacturers must offer safe end-of-life management and recycling options when products
become unusable. "Developing environmentally sound products has long been a priority for
HP's design and engineering teams," says Jeri Callaway, vice president and general manager,
Americas Commercial Solutions, Personal Systems Group, HP. "We're particularly proud that
our business-class products already meet, and in some cases exceed, the basic EPEAT
standards without any alteration to their existing design.”

4. Reduce Paper Consumption. There are many easy, obvious ways to reduce paper
consumption: e-mail, electronic archiving, use the “track changes” feature in electronic
documents, rather than redline corrections on paper. When you do print out documents, make
sure to use both sides of the paper, recycle regularly, use smaller fonts and margins, and
selectively print required pages.

8
5. Conserve energy. Turn off your computer when you know you won’t use it for an
extended period of time. Turn on power management features during shorter periods of
inactivity. Power management allows monitors and computers to enter low-power states
when sitting idle. By simply hitting the keyboard or moving the mouse, the computer or
monitors awakens from its low-power sleep mode in seconds. Power management tactics can
save energy and help protect the environment.

1.4 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

PC POWER MANAGEMENT: Many look to managing end-user device power

consumption as an easy, effective way to reduce energy costs. These power management
initiatives include the following: • Using software that centrally manages energy settings of
PCs and monitors. • Enforcing standardized power settings on all PCs before distributing to
end users. • Procuring energy-efficient equipment, such as Energy Star certified devices.
Every kilowatt counts (Curry et al., 2012)

Older computers can use up to 300 watts during peak load, but less than eight watts during
sleep modes. By maximizing the number of PCs and monitors controlled for hibernate, sleep
or shut-down times, companies reduce the amount of energy consumed during lengthy idle
times, particularly overnight. Procuring Energy Star- compliant devices or more energy-
efficient equipment can also reduce power consumption during equipment use. This includes
replacing old desktops with laptops, or refreshing CRT monitors with LCD flat-screens.
Altogether, these power management strategies result in significant energy and maintenance
cost savings; such benefits are realized by 65% of companies that complete such initiatives
(San, 201). Power management for computer systems are desired for many reasons,
particularly: ·Prolong battery life for portable and embedded systems. ·Reduce cooling
requirements. ·Reduce noise. ·Reduce operating costs for energy and cooling. ·Lower power
consumption also means lower heat dissipation, which increases system stability, and less
energy use, which saves money and reduces the impact on the environment. The Advanced
Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI), an open industry standard, allows an operating
system to directly control the power saving aspects of its underlying hardware. This allows a
system to automatically turn off components such as monitors and hard drives after set
periods of inactivity (Curry et al., 2012).

9
In addition, a system may hibernate, where most components (including the CPU and the
system RAM) are turned off. ACPI is a successor to an earlier Intel-Microsoft standard called
Advanced Power Management, which allows a computer's BIOS to control power
management functions. ·Some programs allow the user to manually adjust the voltages
supplied to the CPU, which reduces both the amount of heat produced and electricity
consumed. This process is called under-volting. Some CPUs can automatically under-volt the
processor depending on the workload; this technology is called "Speed Step" on Intel
processors, "Power Now!"/"Cool'n'Quiet" on AMD chips, Long Haul on VIA CPUs, and
Long Run with Trans-meta processors. The power management for microprocessors can be
done over the whole processor, or in specific areas. With dynamic voltage scaling and
dynamic frequency scaling, the CPU core voltage, clock rate, or both, can be altered to
decrease power consumption at the price of slower performance. This is sometimes done in
real time to optimize the power-performance tradeoff. Examples: · Intel Speed Step · AMD
Cool'n'Quiet · AMD Power Now! · VIA Long-Haul (Power Saver) · Transmeta Long Run
and LongRun2 Newer Intel Core processors support ultra-fine power control over the
function units within the processors (Delaney, 2007).

POWER SUPPLY: Power supplies in most computers (PSUs for short) aren't designed for
energy efficiency. In fact, most computers drain more power than they need during normal
operation, leading to higher electrical bills and a more dire environmental impact. The 80
Plus program is a voluntary certification system for power-supply manufacturers. The term
"80 Plus" is a little complicated, so bear with me for a moment. If a PSU meets the
certification, it will use only the power it needs at a given load: In other words, it won't use
more power than it needs. For example, if your PC requires only 20 percent of the total power
of a 500-watt PSU, the system will consume no more than 100 watts. Only when the PC
requires full power will the PSU run at the full wattage load. An 80 Plus power supply can
save about 85 kilowatt hours per PC, per year. In many ways, it's the heart of a green PC,
since it manages the power for all the other components. It also has the most dramatic effect
on your energy bill. Of course, all 80 Plus power supplies are also lead-free and RoHS
compliant (San, 2010)

Desktop computer power supplies (PSUs) are generally 70–75% efficient, dissipating the
remaining energy as heat. An industry initiative called 80 PLUS certifies PSUs that are at
least 80% efficient; typically these models are drop-in replacements for older, less efficient
PSUs of the same form factor. As of July 20, 2007, all new Energy Star 4.0-certified desktop

10
PSUs must be at least 80% efficient. Various initiatives are underway to improve the
efficiency of computer power supplies. Climate savers computing initiative promotes energy
saving and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging development and use of
more efficient power supplies (Curry et al., 2012).

STORAGE: There are three routes available, all of which vary in cost, performance, and
capacity. The most conventional route is the 3.5" desktop hard drive. Recently, major drive
manufacturers have begun to focus on reduced power consumption, resulting in such features
as the reduced RPM low-power idle mode with fixed rotation speed for reduced power
consumption. The advantages of this route are the highest possible capacity, the best
performance (out of the highest-end solid-state drives). The second option, which also lends
itself to affordability, is to use a 2.5" laptop hard drive. These consume less power than larger
disks as a result of their smaller platters, smaller motors, and firmware that is already
optimized for power consumption versus most 3.5" hard disks. With capacities up to 320GB,
reasonable capacity is well within reach, although the price is substantially higher than an
equivalent 3.5" disk.[1] With a green system aimed at light use, a 120GB or 160GB laptop
drive is a very affordable, lower-power alternative to a 3.5" disk. The lowest-power option is
to use a solid state hard drive (SSD), which typically draw less than one-third the power of a
2.5" disk (San, 2010)

The latest, highest-performance SSDs are very fast but extremely expensive, and currently
top out at only 64GB. That's adequate for light use, but wholly inadequate for gamer, video
editing, and other heavy uses. More affordable SSDs are available in larger capacities, but are
not cheap and typically have slow write performance, which limits their practical utility.
Smaller form factor (e.g. 2.5 inch) hard disk drives often consume less power than physically
larger drives. Unlike hard disk drives, solid-state drives store data in flash memory or
DRAM. With no moving parts, power consumption may be reduced somewhat for low
capacity flash based devices. Even at modest sizes, DRAM based SSDs may use more power
than hard disks, (e.g., 4GB i-RAM uses more power and space than laptop drives). Flash
based drives are generally slower for writing than hard disks (Curry et al., 2012)

VIDEO CARD: A fast GPU may be the largest power consumer in a computer. Energy
efficient display options include: ·No video card - use a shared terminal, shared thin client, or
desktop sharing software if display required. ·Use motherboard video output - typically low
3D performance and low power. ·Reuse an older video card that uses little power; many do

11
not require heat-sinks or fans. ·Select a GPU based on average wattage or performance per
watt. The easiest way to conserve power is to go with integrated video. This is the lowest
performance option, but for office users, casual browsing, and pure 2D use, it's more than
adequate and well worth saving the 10W, 20W, or even 35W from a discrete video card.
Motherboards spitting out integrated video via DVI or HDMI aren't that hard to find, so
power-users with their massive LCDs don't have to suffer (San, 2010)

DISPLAYS: LCD monitors typically use a cold-cathode fluorescent bulb to provide light for
the display. Some newer displays use an array of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in place of the
fluorescent bulb, which reduces the amount of electricity used by the display. LCD monitors
uses three times less when active, and ten times less energy when in sleep mode. LCDs are up
to 66% more energy efficient than CRTs, LCDs are also upwards of 80% smaller in size and
weight, leading to fuel savings in shipping. LCDs produce less heat, meaning you'll need less
AC to keep cool LCD screens are also easier on the eyes. Their lower intensity and steady
light pattern result in less fatigue versus CRTs. A newer LCD draws 40-60W maximum in a
modest 19", 20", or 22" size. That number grows close to 85W or 100W maximum for a 24"
unit. Drop them down to standby or turn them off entirely when not using them to minimize
power consumption. By comparison, a 21" CRT typically uses more than 120W, more than
double the power of a typical 22" LCD (Curry et al., 2012)

IT EQUIPMENT RECYCLING: After you’ve finished with your IT products, what

happens when they’re no longer needed? In nature, organic materials rot down and feed
future growth, so why not dismantle products at the end of their lives and use the elements as
raw materials for future products? Several reputable computer manufacturers use metal and
easily- separated plastics in order to maximize raw material reuse. It’s important that the
environmental costs of recovery don’t exceed the benefits expected. And that, of course,
loops back to design in the first place. The priorities for all material things are reduce, reuse
and recycle - in that order of importance. If you can extend the working life of your IT
products, you reduce the environmental consequences of mining, manufacture, packaging,
shipping and disposal. Can you upgrade something rather than finish using it? If you have to
replace it, can someone else inside your organization use it? If not, charities and refurbishing
organizations may be able to extend the product’s life. And, waiting at the end of the line,
many organizations, including some manufacturers themselves, are willing to take equipment
back and recycle the components into new products. Out of all initiatives in this study, the

12
success of IT equipment recycling relies not on a business case with cost savings, but on a
combination of environmental responsibility (Jones, 2006).

OPERATING SYSTEM SUPPORT: The dominant desktop operating system, Microsoft

Windows, has included limited PC power management features since Windows 95. These
initially provided for stand-by (suspend-to-RAM) and a monitor low power state. Further
iterations of Windows added hibernate (suspend-to-disk) and support for the ACPI standard.
Windows 2000 was the first NT based operation system to include power management. This
required major changes to the underlying operating system architecture and a new hardware
driver model. Windows 2000 also introduced Group Policy, a technology which allowed
administrators to centrally configure most Windows features. However, power management
was not one of those features. This is probably because the power management settings
design relied upon a connected set of per-user and per-machine binary registry values,
effectively leaving it up to each user to configure their own power management settings. This
approach, which is not compatible with Windows Group Policy, was repeated in Windows
XP. The reasons for this design decision by Microsoft are not known, and it has resulted in
heavy criticism Microsoft significantly improved this in Windows Vista by redesigning the
power management system to allow basic configuration by Group Policy. The support
offered is limited to a single per- computer policy. The most recent release, Windows 7
retains these limitations but does include refinements for more efficient user of operating
system timers, processor power management, and display panel brightness (San, 2010)

Green computing programs

It has a Degree and postgraduate programs that provide training in a range of information technology
concentrations along with sustainable strategies in an effort to educate students on how to build and
maintain systems while reducing its negative impact on the environment. The Australian National
University (ANU) offers "ICT Sustainability" as part of its information technology and engineering
masters programs. Athabasca University offer a similar course "Green ICT Strategies", adapted from
the ANU course notes by Tom Worthington. In the UK, Leeds Metropolitan University offers an MSc
Green Computing program in both full and part-time access modes (Royte, 2006).

Green computing certifications

Some certifications demonstrate that an individual has specific green computing knowledge,
including:

13
Green Computing Initiative - GCI offers the Certified Green Computing User Specialist
(CGCUS), Certified Green Computing Architect (CGCA) and Certified Green Computing
Professional (CGCP) certifications.

CompTIA Strata Green IT is designed for IT managers to show that they have good
knowledge of green IT practices and methods and why it is important to incorporate them
into an organization.

Information Systems Examination Board (ISEB) Foundation Certificate in Green IT is

appropriate for showing an overall understanding and awareness of green computing and
where its implementation can be beneficial.

Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation (SITF) Singapore Certified Green IT Professional is

an industry endorsed professional level certification offered with SITF authorized training
partners. Certification requires completion of a four day instructor-led core course, plus a one
day elective from an authorized vendor.

Australian Computer Society (ACS) The ACS offers a certificate for "Green Technology
Strategies" as part of the Computer Professional Education Program (CPEP). Award of a
certificate requires completion of a 12 week e-learning course designed by Tom Worthington,
with written assignments (Royte, 2006).

1.5 METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION

The methods employed in data collection of this research work were;

i. Reports: Past projects on related topics, manuals and magazines are also used during
the fact finding process of this project.
ii. Online Documentation: The internet is another source of information as it gives clues on
how activities are carried out in the ministry. Relevant information for this project was
extracted online.

1.6 RESULT AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

The research work is based on green computing; its technology and basic applications. Green
computer is said to have a vital effect on business work and its operations. Businesses
seeking a cost-effective way to responsibly recycle large amounts of computer equipment
face a more complicated process. They also have the option of contacting the manufacturers

14
and arranging recycling options. However, in cases where the computer equipment comes
from a wide variety of manufacturers, it may be more efficient to hire a third-party contractor
to handle the recycling arrangements. There exist companies that specialize in corporate
computer disposal services both offer disposal and recycling services in compliance with
local laws and regulations. Such companies frequently also offer secure data elimination
services. So far, consumers haven't cared about ecological impact when buying computers,
they've cared only about speed and price. But as Moore's Law marches on and computers
commoditize, consumers will become pickier about being green. Devices use less and less
power while renewable energy gets more and more portable and effective. New green
materials are developed every year, and many toxic ones are already being replaced by them
(Puglia, Virgilio 2013).

1.7 CONCLUSION

Green computing is discovered to be an effective and more efficient area of computing

technologies. The greenest computer will not miraculously fall from the sky one day; it’ll be
the product of years of improvements. The features of a green computer of tomorrow would
be like: efficiency, manufacturing & materials, recyclability, service model, self-powering,
and other trends. Green computer will be one of the major contributions which will break
down the 'digital divide', the electronic gulf that separates the information rich from the
information poor.

1.8 RECOMMENDATIONS

Since green computing is said to have a vital effect on business work and its operations. I
recommend that businesses seeking a cost-effective computing should recycle large amounts
of computer equipment, though they may face a more complicated process. They also have
the option of contacting the manufacturers and arranging recycling options. However, in
cases where the computer equipment comes from a wide variety of manufacturers, it may be
more efficient to hire a third-party contractor to handle the recycling arrangements. There
exist companies that specialize in corporate computer disposal services both offer disposal
and recycling services in compliance with local laws and regulations. Such companies
frequently also offer secure data elimination services.

15
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San Murugesan (2010). Harnessing Green IT: Principles and Practices,” IEEE IT
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Curry et al (2012). Developing a Sustainable IT Capability: Lessons from Intel’s Journey,

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Bharti (2011). Developing Environmentally Responsible Business Strategies: A Research

perspective, International Journal of Green Computing.

Jones Ernesta (2010). EPA Announces New Computer Efficiency Requirements. U.S. EPA.

Gardiner, Bryan (2007). How Important Will New Energy Star Be for PC Makers? PC
Magazine.

Koomey Jonathon (2012). Growth in data center electricity use 2005 to 2010, Oakland, CA:
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Schuhmann, Daniel (2005). Strong Showing: High-Performance Power Supply Units. Tom's
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Delaney, John (2007). 15 Ways to Reinvent Your PC. PC Magazine 26 (17).

Segan, Sascha (2007). Green Tech: Reduce, Reuse, That's It. PC Magazine 26 (19): P 56.

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Royte, Elizabeth (2006). Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash. Back Bay Books.
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Puglia, Virgilio (2013). Energy indices for environmental sustainability. International

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