By Faiz Shakir, Managing Director – Sales, Nutanix India & SAARC at Nutanix
There has been discussion around how technology can be used to accelerate sustainability efforts, from green IT to automated and digitised systems, and the integration of new data sets in emissions reduction. What is often overlooked, however, is the fact that many of these technologies can expand a company’s carbon footprint rather than reduce it. This begs the question: Is technology hindering climate change more than it is helping it?
As the world progresses towards the direction of sustainability and zero carbon footprint, our need for technology has never been higher. With every aspect of life turning digital, computing power has become a resource that is essential for the functioning of every enterprise. This demand is only expected to rise in the years ahead, hastened by rapid digitalization and wider adoption of technologies like 5G, AI, IoT, and blockchain. With such demand, it is near impossible to redact aspects of technology that harms environment, and therefore, sustainability must be found in an integrated approach that can prioritise green initiatives alongside the rapid growth of technology.
In fact, multiple markets now require publicly listed companies to disclose climate reporting with increased investor scrutiny around their environmental, social, and governance commitments. However, the pitfall that many businesses have fallen into is to hop on the green bandwagon, simply to tick a Corporate Social Responsibility checkbox — without meaningfully engaging with how sustainability can be integrated in their organisation’s operations, processes, and overall DNA.
The IT industry is no exception. Having waxed lyrical about the positive impact that technology can have in accelerating climate change efforts and preventing the emission of more than 1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), technology companies have done little to address these challenges. The sector’s notoriously resource-intensive nature, particularly where chip-making and data centres are concerned, continues to be a cause of concern, as well. Currently, the information and computing technology sector is expected to account for nearly 20 percent of global energy demand by 2030, up from 3 percent today.
The truth is that while sustainability is on high priority, so is our need for technology and its high energy demands. So, if there is no way to rule out either side, how can we make the industry greener? The way forward could be to initiate and implement a comprehensive strategy that encompasses technology growth in a sustainable fashion.
Datacentre Evolution
Most industry conversations so far have focused on the exhaustive environmental impact of datacentres. However, recent studies have indicated that new-age data centres, developed with sustainable technologies and fuelled by renewable energy sources, and can help reduce overall rates of energy consumption and emissions without sacrificing the need for increased computing capacity.
These new-age data centres can run up to 6x increased computing output, while consuming energy at a marginal 6 per cent increased rate. Indian companies are strongly pushing towards sustainable energy sources for their data centres. Sify, an Indian ICT solutions provider, has entered into an agreement with Vibrant Energy Holdings to source solar and wind energy to power its hyperscale datacentres, and this practice has also been taken up by other companies such as Bharati Airtel, which has commissioned a solar power plant in Uttar Pradesh to power their datacentres.
Leaving legacy behind
However, data centres present just one part of the equation. As technologies evolve and more businesses pivot to hybrid and multicloud models to meet their increasing need for operational agility, many are grappling with the complexities and fallout of managing various cloud architectures across multiple platforms, which often comprise siloed, legacy components.
This is troubling for several reasons. Traditional IT infrastructure is multilayered, and its maintenance is an energy-intensive operation. At the same time, these legacy systems often no longer serve the needs of companies as they look to scale their operational agility, reduce total cost of ownership, and increase returns on their technology investments.
Modern IT environments, such as those powered by hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI), collapse traditional 3-tier datacentre setups into a single, consolidated layer within an organisation’s technology stack. This simplifies and streamlines organisations’ journeys to the cloud, and enables them to tap on public, private and hybrid cloud services more easily. At the same time, it significantly reduces the energy and hardware required to run traditional data centres, directly lowering businesses’ energy consumption, carbon emissions, and operating costs.
A case in point is Adani which has partnered with Google Cloud to enable its shift of over 250 applications onto the cloud. The shift will allow for a centralised workflow and smoother operations.
Technology and sustainability: Working in tandem
While there is no denying that today’s technologies demand greater computing power and energy than before, they could also be one of the greatest forces for good in the fight against climate change. In fact, the cloud has already proven instrumental in enabling companies to track and reduce their carbon emissions and footprint, and run their operations sustainably and efficiently, with a significant benefit to the business bottom line — a triple win for businesses, with neither the enterprise nor environment sacrificed.
So, is technology more a hindrance or help to the climate movement? Evidence suggests that the latter is true. But it all hinges on whether businesses continue to leverage IT innovatively, and responsibly. However, one thing is for sure: the world would be nowhere closer to meeting its sustainability targets if we did not harness the power of technology.