Green IT: from buzzword to reality

Accounting for 2% of the world’s CO₂ emissions, the IT industry is on a par with the aviation industry in discharges of greenhouse gases. Green IT has long been a buzzword, and last year we put some action behind the words by becoming the first large Danish IT company to sign an agreement with DONG Energy to switch to wind turbine energy. From this year onwards KMD will be CO₂-neutral through the purchase of energy certificates.

Demand for wind energy
“We have been working with non-financial goals for many years, and now the climate changes are telling us that the time has come to introduce climate goals. We believe it is a perfectly natural thing for us, as part of society, to help get the job done,” says CFO Sten T. Davidsen.

The agreement between KMD and DONG means, in simple terms, that KMD will get its electricity, equivalent to the output of two wind turbines, from the wind farm that will be finished at Horns Rev II in 2010. However, no cables will run from the wind turbines to KMD’s buildings because KMD will continue to use electricity from the ordinary grid.

“The electricity is the same, and it will come from the same outlet. The agreement means that we pay an increased price for the wind turbine electricity. In this way we will help create a demand for wind energy, which will lead to more green electricity in the future,” explains Sten T. Davidsen.

10% lower electricity consumption
In return for the additional price for the wind energy, DONG is helping KMD to reduce its energy consumption by 10%. This work, which at the beginning of the year was in the planning phase, involves identifying possible initiatives and prioritising the sequence in which they are implemented based on what gives the best return for the investment.

“10% is a lot, and it's not just a matter of starting at one end. We need overview so that we can prioritise our efforts. These are big investments, so it's important to choose correctly,” says Sten T. Davidsen.

The first focus areas are ventilation and heating in the older buildings as well as cooling of IT equipment, which accounts for almost two thirds of energy consumption in the data centres. Like its colleagues in the industry, KMD has worked continuously to reduce the data centres’ energy consumption – including through virtualisation and free cooling.

Travel activity in the spotlight
Travel activity and forms have also been put in the spotlight in order to reduce CO₂ emissions by 10%. Here the analysis is on which forms of travel are most environmentally friendly. Furthermore, we are considering ideas such as car-sharing schemes between KMD’s locations and additional video rooms to reduce the need for travel.

The initiatives mean that green IT is no longer just a vision or a far-off scenario. From this year onwards KMD will be able to offer customers IT solutions based on sustainable energy.