PUNE, INDIA: Just a few days back, ASUS launched its much awaited eco-friendly Bamboo Series Notebook in India, designed with real bamboo as an end-to-end eco-friendly Bamboo Notebook claimed to be ‘green’ throughout its life cycle – from its conception and production to its recycling.

In another recent study, companies like Wipro, Sony and Apple were tagged positively green for their efforts and products in view of environmental impact.

As per the Greenpeace “Guide to Greener Electronics,” Wipro Infotech was named as top Green Brand of India. Wipro attributed this ranking to energy star compliant products, launching e-waste management programmes, creating awareness among public, and using recycled plastics in its new productions while restricting usage of pernicious substances in its products.

Among others, Sony was as ‘greenest’ console brands rated as 40 percent environmentally-friendly than Microsoft’s, while 50 percent greener that Nintendo’s products. Greenpeace also lauded Nintendo for doing a good job by banning the use of phthalates, and monitoring its use of antimony and beryllium while endeavoring to eliminate the use of PVC. Similar in line of praise was Apple for reducing the use of PVCs and BFRs in its products, and even Philips (a company that was on the receiving end of e-waste campaign), seen as impressive in the war against e-waste.

Companies like HP, Lenovo and Dell were penalined for negligence in the Guide to Greener Electronics but were commended as some of these companies’ products that are free from hazardous chemicals. All this sounds green and positive.

Yes, there are some grim realities too

In the past two decades, we have shifted from paper-based economy to digital information era and data centers — facilities that primarily contain electronic equipment used for data processing, data storage, and communications networking — have become both ubiquitous and indispensable be it common financial services, media, high-tech, universities, or government institutions.

A look at the status in US tells a lot. It was estimated that this sector consumed about 61 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2006 which was 1.5 percent of total U.S. electricity consumption, which was more than the electricity consumed by the nation’s color televisions and similar to the amount of electricity consumed by approximately 5.8 million average U.S. Federal servers and data centers alone accounted for approximately 6 billion kWh (10 percent) of this electricity use.

It was projected by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ENERGY STAR Program that unless energy efficiency was improved, the federal government’s electricity cost for servers and data centers could touch a peak load of approximately 1.2 GW by 2011.

Coming to other grim reality, e-waste has continued to haunt green cautious segments. As per a global forecast from Electronic waste recovery business, between 2004 and 2009, the average annual growth rate for e-waste market in recycled silica was 7.5 per cent, for other recycled technologies was 7.3 per cent and for recycled plastic was 10.2 per cent.

The market for post-consumer recycled materials from electronics will be strong over the next five years. The largest driver of growth will be the regulatory-driven onus on OEMs to manage hazardous waste materials from cradle-to-grave. Recent technological advancements have provided manufacturers with less toxic material choices and more cost-effective ways to recover electronic circuitry and associated equipment. But there's a lot to catch up on.

New consumer electronics products are a little greener than those on sale a year ago -- but manufacturers could do much better, according to a study by environmental campaign group Greenpeace International. One thing that changed for the better in 2008 was the increasing use of LED (light emitting diode) displays, which avoid the use of backlights containing mercury, and are also more energy efficient, Greenpeace said. Companies are also using recycled materails, for example in TV and monitor casings, and are increasing the volume of old products that they take back for recycling.

Manufacturers are using less toxic materials, employing more LED displays and recycling more, but a Greenpeace study finds that the consumer electronics industry is far better at making green claims than green products.

As Brikesh Singh, climate campaigner, Greenpeace Bangalore reckons, India has developed a lot in the last two decades, even if it stands at less than two tonne per annum in consumption levels against 16 tonne per annum for a country like US. "Today white goods and Gadgets are no more a luxury and a Plasma in our drawing room guzzles the same energy impact as a SUV on the road." There's no need to go back to the stone age though. "We need to radically look at how we consume as much as we need to look on how we produce."

Between the 1990s to today, we have progressed a lot in lifestyle and consumption but at the same time, we have reached a point of no return on the impact on Earth, he stresses.

However, IT industry, which contributes only about two per cent to carbon emissions directly, has a bigger and more positive role than what has been seen so far. A lot of companies are on track and trying to be proactive, as Singh acknowledges, but it's time to think beyond Green IT. "It's time for 'IT for green'. IT, with its gigantic potential, technology power and brain edge can do a lot in devising futuristic earth-friendly solutions for today's problems. A good example is the smart metering system for power usage that I guess Infosys is working on."

In his view, India has an upper hand and opportunity in comparison to Europe and US. "India is beautifully placed in terms of geography and resources. They have gone far ahead. We do not need to compromise on our lifestyles much and at the same time IT can harness its best brains for addressing energy problems. India can see a greener and revolutionary energy mix shift if that happens."

As Singh sums up, the situation may look beyond control but it's time for real action. It's time for IT to look at Earth in a new way.