Intel to tech industry: Help reduce carbon footprint
By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 09:47:00 09/24/2008
SAN FRANCISCO, California -- The technology industry should help the energy industry adopt technology that can help reduce the so-called "carbon footprint," Intel Corp. President and CEO Paul Ottelini said during the Oracle Open World here.
The Carbon footprint measures the impact of human activities on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced. It is measured in units of carbon dioxide.
Ottelini said Intel and other industry leaders like Oracle are now driving various initiatives to reduce energy consumption in the manufacture and the development of their products, as well as in running their operations.
The Intel chief executive pointed out that Intel has recently been able to save $2 billion in electricity as it implemented initiatives to reduce energy consumption.
He said that Intel is now a member of the Green Grid, an information technology industry initiative to reduce power consumption.
Citing a study by the Gartner Group, Ottelini said that the technology industry presently contributes 2 percent to the global carbon footprint.
Intel, for its part, has recently been pushing more programs to reduce carbon footprint.
Ottelini revealed that Intel is now the largest purchaser of renewable energy in the United States.
Meanwhile, Intel, Oracle and other companies have kick-started an organization that leverages on technology to transform the energy industry. Ottelini said this recent project hopes to have a bigger impact on the green movement, especially on the reduction of the global carbon footprint.
"What can we do as an industry to improve energy consumption? The global IT industry was responsible for 2 percent of global CO2. This 2 percent is likely to go up because IT is one of the fastest-growing industries. At Intel, we're focused on energy efficiency. Last year, we introduced the biggest change in transistor technology by introducing lower power consumption in our new processors," the Intel executive added.
Ottelini said Oracle has also been driving the reduction of energy consumption by using its technology.
"You can now see how technology can have a large impact on the 2 percent of the global CO2 emissions. The question now is how we can impact the 98 percent?" he asked, posing a challenge to the high-tech industry.
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