Civil Service in the news
Government computer systems to go carbon neutral
The Government has set a world precedent with its strategy to radically reduce the carbon footprint of its computer systems.
Information and communications technology (ITC) causes two percent of global carbon emissions – the same as the airline industry. Plans launched by Cabinet Office Minister Tom Watson at the Science Museum aim to make energy consumption of government ICT systems carbon neutral by 2012, and carbon neutral across their lifetime (including manufacture and disposal) by 2020.
According to the Carbon Trust, ITC accounts for about 20 percent of emissions from UK government offices, or about 460,000 tonnes of carbon each year. Departments will be asked to take 18 key steps to tackle these emissions.
Steps include automatically switching off desktop computers outside working hours, reusing as much computer equipment as possible, auditing data centres and server use to make sure they are running at maximum efficiency and ensuring all printers default to double-sided printing.
Simply turning off all of the 500,000 desktop computers in central government for the 16 hours outside of the standard working day would reduce carbon emissions by 117,500 tonnes of CO2 per year – equivalent to taking 40,000 cars off the road.
Tom Watson said:
‘We are the first government in the world to formally set out exactly what we're going to do to make our ICT systems carbon neutral within four years. We won't achieve this just by offsetting but by making serious changes to the way we do business.
&lsquoBut it's not just about the Government. I hope that the steps we're announcing today will also be picked up by private companies and individuals. Lots of small actions make a big impact. Between us we can make a real difference to drive down energy consumption.’
Andrew Lee, Chief Executive of the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), said:
‘This is a welcome move and a radical target. As the SDC reported earlier this year, government departments have a long way to go on reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions, and tackling IT will be crucial to this effort. We look forward to seeing departments build on these first steps with sustained and decisive action.’
Copies of the full strategy can be found at
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk
