Environmental News: Minister challenges IT industry to help fight climate change
Lord Hunt, Minister for Sustainable Development and Energy Innovation has welcomed the launch of the EU Code of Conduct for Data Centres.
The UK is the first country in the world to set legally binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Data centres are responsible for almost three per cent of electricity use in the UK and this is expected to double by 2020. Within the next 12 months Defra will be seeking compliance by the main IBM Data Centre used for Defra systems.
The EU Code of Conduct was developed in close collaboration with the industry, including the British Computer Society (BCS). Signatories to the Code will be expected to implement the Code of Conduct’s energy efficiency best practice, meet minimum procurement standards, and annually report energy consumption. This might mean that companies decommission old servers, reduce the amount of air conditioning they use, or maximise the use of a server by running multiple applications.
Lord Hunt encouraged data centre operators to adopt the Code, saying:
“If we are to tackle dangerous climate change, we need to reduce emissions and the decision businesses make play a key role in meeting this challenge. By signing up to this new code of conduct companies can save energy and save money too, which goes to show that what’s good for the environment is good for business.”
The Code of Conduct is owned by the European Commission; you can find the code here
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
EnviroFutures Ltd•Sheffield Technology Park•60 Shirland Lane•Sheffield•South Yorkshire•S9 3SP
—————————————————————————————————————————————————