Talking About Green

[We have been hearing a lot lately about the benefits of ICT to reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. Several studies indicate that ICT may reduce GHG emissions by as much as 15%.

At the same time many industries have announced plans to be carbon neutral such as Dell, Cisco, Google etc. Academia and government are also moving in this direction with voluntary and, in some cases, mandatory carbon neutrality targets.

We all believe that optical networks, clouds, virtualization, grids, SOA, broadband etc can play a critical role in achieving our respective carbon neutrality objectives. But in order to use ICT technologies to achieve carbon neutrality an institution must demonstrate that the actual carbon savings are real, verifiable and auditable. Vendor’s claims of increased energy efficiency, or reduced travel, are meaningless and worthless without ISO 14064 compliance.

Compliance with ISO 14064 is necessary to demonstrate genuine carbon reduction and it may also lead to the possibility of earning carbon offset dollars from various trusts like the Pacific Carbon Trust and ultimately maybe even real dollars from large carbon exchanges in Chicago, Montreal etc.

What we desperately need from equipment vendors and telecommunication supplier is actual examples or implementation of how an ICT product or service reduced GHG emissions through the rigorous process of ISO 14064 certification. As pressure for carbon neutrality mounts, vendors and suppliers who can demonstrate solutions with ISO 14064 are the only ones who will win new business.

A good example is the recent Google-GE announcement, for Google to earn carbon offsets in its goal to achieve carbon neutrality. Climate-check (www.climate-check.com) and Green House Gas Services (http://www.ghgs.com/ ) developed the ISO 14064 protocol for this project. – BSA]