Green Energy and Green IT: Change is Coming

Yesterday's Women in Technology event on Green Energy and Green IT featured three knowledgeable local speakers:

Hank Dearden of Virsant
Bill Lyons of Seneca Creek Partners
Marco Luzuriaga of Limeleap

The come from different perspectives, but all three agreed that we can't rely on social responsibility alone to drive environmental policies and change.

Bill set the stage by explaining the macro factors that are driving interest in green energy:

• Fossil fuels are becoming increasingly scarce and increasingly difficult and expensive to extract.  Many experts predict that we'll run out of oil in 30-50 years if we continue consumption at the current rates.
• Global interest in energy security and independence -- especially given the locations of the world's remaining oil reserves
• Cost savings
• Global mandates for clean/renewable energy and fuel efficiency
• And the environmental impact of current practices

Marco and Hank turned the conversation to Green I.T.  The first strategies many people think of are cloud computing and virtualization, though Marco pointed out that Green I.T. also means decreasing the hazardous materials in computer equipment, increasing energy efficiency and designing for recyclability and biodegradability.

Hank was quick to point out that though cloud computing is a green I.T. strategy because resources can be shared -- there are many social networks that are only available because of cloud computing that are tremendous energy hogs.  Facebook has 30,000 servers supporting its operations, the equivalent of five power plants.  In Hank's words, "every time you tweet, you kill a butterfly," which helps remind us all of the delicate balancing act between the habits of the modern day world and environmental stewardship.

On the topic of virtualization, Hank explained that there are five to six reasons to virtualize a data center or desktop -- only one of them is green; "virtualization is good I.T., and you essentially get the green for free."

The speakers agreed that a paradigm shift is necessary and inevitable, and that we'll see increased technology innovation over the next decade.  The cost savings are just too significant to ignore, which should keep everyone seeing green.

- Katie Hanusik

Photo 1: Speakers - Hank Dearden, Virsant; Bill Lyons, Seneca Creek Partners; Marco Luzuriaga of LimeLeap
Photo 2: Event Attendees - Royela Kim, Boscobel; Toni Townes-Whitley, Unisys and WIT President; Gina Pagliaro, Boscobel