Research shows that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) account for nearly 2% of global CO2 emissions — as much as the aviation industry. Furthermore, some analysts predict that greenhouse gas emissions from information systems are expected to increase by 50% by 2020 if data centers continue to grow at their current pace.
At Atos Origin, more than half of our greenhouse gas emissions come from our fifty data centers, which host tens of thousands of servers. To remedy this situation, we have been preparing to apply the European Code of Conduct for Data Centers.
We are also looking to improve our environmental performance and reduce our carbon footprint through the reduction of energy consumption in our offices and data centers and by achieving ISO 14001 certification across our business. And in 2008, we joined the Green Grid, a consortium of IT manufacturers and users, whose members have committed to reducing energy consumption in data centers by 10% between now and 2011. This would save 10.7 billion kWh and avoid 6.5 million metric tons of CO2 emissions.
Also in 2008, we also took action in three areas to improve environmental performance:
- The first was to make each data center more energy efficient by improving its Power Usage Efficiency (PUE), which measures the amount of energy dispersed by UPS (Uninterruptable Power System), cooling and other non-IT systems.
- The second area of focus was to optimize the energy consumption of hosted components by implementing low energy-use solutions, eliminating unnecessary redundant servers, identifying underemployed infrastructure and equipment that remains powered up when not in use, and reducing the number of components through virtualization. Consolidation projects for Atos Origin’s in-house IT systems have cut the number of servers used by more than half.
- The third initiative was to select energy suppliers with the smallest carbon footprint per kWh. Several Atos Origin centers already use alternative energy sources, including self-generation (in Germany), wind power (in The Netherlands), hydroelectric power (in Belgium), solar power in many countries or supply contracts with green energy providers.
Instilling a Green Attitude
Atos Origin’s Sustainable Development program includes employee-targeted measures to promote the efficient use of electricity, paper, IT equipment and other resources, to recycle ink cartridges, paper and cans, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Examples here include a carbon calculator initiative with the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (the ADEME) and a program to encourage videoconferencing to cut down on business travel, instant messaging and information sharing.
A specific waste management program has also been deployed to raise awareness among employees and management and to foster environmentally friendly practices. These include less wasteful printing solutions and recycling of consumables and PCs. Old PCs are donated to humanitarian organizations like “Ateliers sans frontieres”, which can recover them for other uses or recycle the components.
Shrinking the Olympic Games Carbon Footprint
As part of its partnership with the Olympic Games, Atos Origin helps deploy technological solutions to shrink the Games’ carbon footprint. For the Beijing Games in 2008, we developed the first remote information system for sports commentators. This significantly reduced travel and CO2 emissions, as well as expenses. In another first, a 150-person team developed and operated a platform for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, to process more than 50,000 applications from volunteers in 100 countries, without having to travel or use any paper.