The biggest contribution CIOs can make to fighting
climate change may not be in thedatacentrebut by applying IT
innovatively to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the business
itself.
Figures from the US Environmental Protection Agency reveal that
datacentres and servers accounted for just 1.5% of total US
electricity consumption in 2006.
Closer to home,
Tesco chief executive Terry Leahy has committed £100m to slash
the retailer's 4.1 million tonne carbon footprint. However, a
review to establish carbon footprint baselines found that IT
contributes just 4% of the company's total carbon footprint.
Mike Yorwerth, director of group technology and architecture at
Tesco, says a deeper analysis showed that Wintel platforms
contribute 29% of IT's carbon footprint, compared with 3% for
mainframes and 18% for storage systems.
Tesco's Wintel estate, which includes its point of sale system,
is achieving utilisation rates as low as 6% compared with the
retailer's mainframe utilisation figure of 98%. A further concern,
says Yorwerth, is that manufacturing a personal computer requires
twice as much energy at it takes to run the finished system for
three years.
Yorwerth is addressing every aspect of IT to reduce Tesco's
carbon footprint. Tesco aims to use virtualisation to improve
Wintel utilisation from 6% to 60%. It plans to review its
applications to see if it can run them on more efficient platforms,
including in Linux partitions on mainframes.
Yorwerth plans to investigate virtual desktops and is switching
to double-sided printing and will do more to automatically
hibernate or switch off desktop units, printers and tills when not
in use.
Yorwerth says even if Tesco cuts IT's carbon footprint by 25%,
it will cut only 1% off Tesco's total footprint. He believes
applying IT in other parts of the business could help cut the
group's carbon footprint by 20% overall.
For instance, he says, a flight to New York generates two tonnes
of CO2, but a teleconference for a meeting of the same length
produces only 10 kilograms of CO2. Henceforth, many more Tesco
meetings will be via teleconference.
Tesco has already issued a request for proposals for automated
building management systems across its entire estate. These will
manage the climate inside stores, dim and brighten lights as
daylight changes, monitor refrigerators and heating systems more
closely, and switch off non-essential systems when the store
closes. This could cut energy bills 20%, says Yorwerth.
Tesco is rolling out telemetry to monitor driver behaviour and
routing for its delivery fleet. "We are looking at a 17% saving on
the fuel bill," Yorwerth says.
Other efforts include installing low-energy lighting,
redesigning shop floor layouts to minimise cooling and heating of
aisles, more home-working, and better route planning. Tesco is also
insisting that all suppliers prove their green credentials.
Tesco's carbon footprint and targets
Total footprint is 4.1 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent a
year
Grid electricity - 57%
Refrigerant - 25%
Diesel - 11%
Natural gas - 6%
Business travel - 1%
Targets
• Halve energy used per square foot in buildings by 2010
(achieved 2008)
• 50% cut in emissions from existing buildings by 2020
• 50% cut in carbon footprint of all new stores built by
2020
• 50% cut in CO2 created per case of goods delivered by 2012
How IT can cut Tesco's carbon footprint
Area of business (Potential saving as a % of total carbon
footprint)
Centralised building management 8-16%
Better transport routing and telemetry 1-2%
Teleconferencing & telepresence <1%
Home working <1%
Other contributions from IT
• Carbon management
• KPIs and information dashboard on projects to cut
footprint
• Framework to encourage suppliers
• Sustainable Consumption Institute support