The rapid development of technologies and new inventions has affected the environment very much. And this led to the start of the Green Revolution in all the industries including the Information Technology and Tech fields. 

Now the big companies like Google and Amazon included Green Computing as an important objective in their plans. So what does this Green Computing mean? Why it is important?

In this article, you will get the following detailed explanation about Green computing –

What is Green Computing?

Green Computing refers to the usage of computers and their resources in an Eco-friendly and responsible way. The term Green computing means a lot. It involves the study of designing environment-friendly and reusable computer or hardware architecture. 

The Goal of Green computing is the same as other Green Evolution concepts, to reduce the hazardous materials in the environment and increase the efficiency and viability of the process. The Green Computing process is very important and should be practiced by everyone. It covers from the large multi-national organization’s servers to the single personal usage computers. 

Many Corporate companies are spending huge investments in making their IT process environment friendly. Here is how the idea of Green Computing started. 

History of Green Computing

It all started when the U.S. Environmental production agency launched the Energy Star program in 1992. The Energy Star program measures and labels the energy efficiency of the monitors, climate equipment, etc… This started the creation of sleep mode and other energy consumption techniques in consumer electronics. 

All these Green Talks started when people realized that the earth is not an unlimited source of resources. The resources like minerals, foods, and other life support are limited in the earth so the energy. People realized that e-waste is becoming a large threat to human survival. So the idea of Green Computing started. 

Objectives of Green Computing

The major objective of Green Computing is to achieve optimal computing efficiency without affecting the existing resources (environment). The following can be considered as the objectives of green computing – 

• Minimizing the e-waste disposal
• Using energy created in an environmentally friendly way (solar energy). 
• Minimizing or optimizing energy consumption. 
• Reducing the printer ink (carbon) and paper usage. 

Green Computing Approaches

To achieve the final goal of Eco-friendly designs, the following four principal methodologies are used.

i) Green Use

It focuses mainly on reducing the PC or server’s power consumption. It is important to consider the life cycle of the system before inducing these green use methods. The system should be durable for a long time at need low power. The PC management methods like the sleep mode, power-saving mode, etc… are created to achieve the green use

ii) Green Disposal

This methodology focuses mostly on the reuse or disposal methods of computers. As the technologies develop and change rapidly, one system will become outdated soon. Instead of throwing the old system, you can replace the old hardware with a new one. 

And it advised recycling the old computers. Certain parts of the computers can be reused and help a lot in the reduction of e-waste. 

iii) Green design

The production of systems that are both effective and efficient and at the same time doesn’t affect the environment is the main goal of this methodology.  There is not much progress in the methodologies but still, we are doing large research in this category. The Energy Star values the Environment friendliness of all the existing systems. And recommending the big business adopt them. 

iv)  Green Manufacturing 

The main problem with electronic systems is they are not easily degradable. And this creates large e-waste. Green Manufacturing focuses on using bio items in computer manufacturing and eliminates the hazardous or poisonous substances in electrical appliances. 

Conclusion

Though the world realized the need for Green computing a little late, it’s not too late to adopt them. And it is not only for the large organizations, even common people can help the final goal of Green computing in the following ways – 

• Power down your CPU peripheral during an extended inactivity period. 
• Use the power management features like sleep mode, display brightness, etc…
• Dispose of e-waste according to the government regulations. 
• Use green energy sources (solar energy etc…)

If you want to know any more about green computing please leave them in the comment section.

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