Google Leads Tech Companies Spearheading Sustainability

When you think of companies with sustainable operations, it’s hard to imagine that such a list would include technology companies that use massive amounts of electricity to run data centers.

However, a consortium of high tech companies and nonprofits is turning that assumption on its head. The Climate Savers Computing Initiative, spearheaded Google and Intel and supported by organizations like Dell, Microsoft, Lenovo, HP and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), has shown that technology companies can be leaders in sustainability and energy efficiency.

Climate Savers members demonstrate their commitment to green IT operations in two ways: manufacturers produce products that meet specified power-efficiency targets; and corporate participants purchase power-efficient computing products.

Google, in particular, has demonstrated exemplary leadership as a company that both generates healthy profits for its shareholders and maintains sustainable operations. The company powers a portion of its operations using electricity from renewable sources, operates efficient PCs and servers and invests in carbon generation offset projects when it can’t reduce emissions.

Google’s successful implementation of green-friendly practices has motivated its executives to boldly promote an ambitious goal of being carbon neutral by 2010.
That will be a steep challenge, because its data centers run all over the world and consume electricity in quantities almost unheard of ten years ago. However, the company started focusing on its sustainability initiatives very early in its growth. Green-friendly operations and energy efficiency are now an important part of its operational model.

Climate Savers members, including Google, are at the forefront of climate change activism because, as tech companies, they understand the power of software platforms to deliver the information they need to make changes. With our carbon management solution, ESS is showing industrial companies that energy efficiency isn’t just the domain of the tech sector.

Add comment October 20th, 2008