Millions of working PCs are dumped in landfill sites in
the UK every year, but why?
Some need to be replaced because of faults or failures. Most,
though, are deemed to be too old, too slow or incapable, and are
scrapped.
Why must we continually upgrade our PCs? What is actually wrong
with all those redundant PCs? Did they clash with the new office
carpet? Or was it because the latest software application demanded
it?
Indeed, why do we need the latest software application? What was
wrong with the last one? It is a question that IT professionals
should be asking.
And why do the latest software applications demand newer and
faster PCs? It is because the new applications require a lot of
processing power to integrate with existing applications and to run
all the "bells and whistles". In a word, it is because of
complexity.
This complexity is driving the requirement for more powerful
PCs. It has spawned a world where PCs are endlessly and needlessly
scrapped, making way for yet another generation of modern, ever
more complex, software applications.
Even where PCs are reused, the benefits of doing so are
counterbalanced by the continual energy requirements of the PC
itself.
My 550MHz Pentium III PC, with a 17-inch monitor, consumes 180
watts of electricity. Employed for 30 hours a week over the course
of a year, it uses electricity costing £28. For a company with
50,000 PCs being used for 40 hours a week, the annual electricity
bill just to power its PCs will be about £1.8m.
To make matters worse, all this electricity consumption
generates a vast amount of wasted heat, which in turn means more
electricity simply to get rid of it, through fans or air
conditioners. Could we reuse this heat by integrating it into our
home or office heating systems?
If we switched off all PCs we would eliminate the problem of PC
redundancy and save all that electricity and money. But we do need
some of these PCs some of the time, and some others all of the
time.
The BCS Code of Conduct states that, as an IT professional, you
should have regard for the environment. The Kyoto Agreement is
aimed at reducing greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide. The
production of electricity to make and use PCs produces carbon
dioxide, which may be partly responsible for climate change. As IT
professionals we should be ensuring that our IT takes these aspects
into account and help to save our environment - and our money.