This document analyzes the varying levels of enthusiasm for green IT among professionals in the US and Europe, highlighting a significant concern over the environmental impact of the ICT ecosystem. Survey results reveal that while over 85% of professionals in both regions recognize the importance of green IT, many believe governments and businesses need to do more to promote it, with US professionals showing higher confidence in current efforts. Despite a common perception of European eco-inclination, the survey indicates that both regions demonstrate indifference towards the practical implementation and benefits of green IT.

1. Who's HEARD OF
GREEN IT?
The Cloud may invoke images of effervescence that leaves no trace,
but in reality the Cloud means just another data center, along with the
accompanying Carbon Footprint. The issue of being Green has never
been higher on the agenda, but how do professionals feel about Green IT,
and how does this vary either side of the Atlantic? This paper compares
the enthusiasm for Green IT between the US and Europe.

2. Who’s Heard of Green IT?
IDG Connect
Introduction
A recent report, The Cloud Begins With Coal, calculated that the ICT ecosystem now approaches 10%
of world electricity generation. “The zettabyte era already uses about 50% more energy than global
aviation.” While in recent years, we’ve seen Greenpeace release the “How Clean Is Your Cloud?” &
“How Dirty Is Your Data?” reports, along with a feature-length article in the New York Times entitled
“Power, Pollution and the Internet”, which includes the startling quote, “A single data center can take
more power than a medium-size town.”
Whether for or against, Green IT has gradually become a major topic within IT in recent years. But
has a once passionate and polarised audience become apathetic after years of intense media
attention? How does feeling on the subject vary either side of the Atlantic, and do those within IT feel
enough is being done to promote the subject? To gauge the levels of enthusiasm and apathy towards
Green IT, we surveyed 149 business & IT professionals from Europe and the US and compared the
results. Interestingly, the number of US participants proved far lower than European, due to far less
enthusiasm for partaking in the survey.
Summary
• Over 70% of respondents feel governments should be doing more to promote Green IT, while
65% feel businesses aren’t doing enough.
• US professionals are almost twice as likely as Europeans to feel that enough is being done to
promote Green IT by business & government.
• Over 85% of business & IT professionals feel Green IT is important.
• There were low levels of interest in completing the survey from the US.
• Those US professionals who did complete the survey were generally more enthusiastic about
its importance than Europeans.
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3. Who’s Heard of Green IT?
IDG Connect
Findings
The results are surprisingly similar with 86% of both US & European professionals saying they feel
Green IT is important. Those who feel Green IT isn’t an important issue is slightly higher in the US,
but there is more uncertainty within Europe.
Do you believe promoting Green IT practice is important overall?
United States
86%
Europe
86%
Yes
86%
7%
No
7%
Not sure
4%
10%
Source: IDG Connect & Green Computing Report
Comments varied wildly on the subject. On the US side, comments often stated they were unsure
what was being done within their company, region or sector when it comes to Green IT, while those
who said it wasn’t important said the topic caused unnecessary interference from the government.
In Europe, comments also ranged from positive to negative. One French respondent called Green IT
“a solution looking for a problem,” while another, also from France, said it was important and progress
was well under way.
• Rather surprisingly, and at odds with the common school of thought, the US are more
bothered about Green impacting business on every level. While Environment & Waste are of
highest importance on both sides of pond, the US gained 7% and 8% higher respectively.
• Despite the common perception that Europe is more eco-inclined that the US, both
indifference and perceived lack of importance is higher among Europeans - but both seem
less concerned about the potential cost benefits or the impact on Company public image.
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4. Who’s Heard of Green IT?
IDG Connect
How important do you think Green IT is based on the following criteria?
United States
Important
Europe
Indifferent
Not important
Reducing cost
Company public
image
0%
22%
7%
22%
79%
0%
21%
71%
7%
22%
64%
21%
14%
55%
Cutting datacentre
waste
78%
71%
Environment
24%
21%
57%
21%
22%
56%
19%
25%
Source: IDG Connect & Green Computing Report
The results clearly show that both businesses & governments need to be doing more to promote Green
IT; over half of US respondents feel both need to do more, while in Europe the figure rises to 70% for
governments and over 65% for businesses. US professionals have more faith in business & government;
almost double said they were doing enough compare to European, but the level of uncertainty on the
subject was also higher.
In the US, comments were mainly focused on the Government, one saying they “appear to be in it for
the political correctness, whether it works or not is irrelevant,” while another said that, “Government
interference is excessive and needless.” Businesswise, one American commented, “I don’t even think it is
on the radar in our area or sector”, while another said business need to do more; “[They] have mandates
and incentives that punish or reward but have to be more proactive.”
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5. Who’s Heard of Green IT?
IDG Connect
Do you believe enough is being done
by the government in your region to
promote Green IT?
29%
Do you believe enough is being done by
businesses in your region to promote
Green IT?
21%
21%
22%
57%
50%
16% 11%
22%
13%
65%
73%
Yes
No
Not sure
Source: IDG Connect & Green Computing Report
A lack of long term vision or direction on the subject was highlighted as a failure of European
governments, along with a lack of education & encouragement. One commented that governments
needed more people with Green IT knowledge to be effective. One Cypriot said, “Government and
business in Europe tend to talk a good game, but don’t do much outside of high profile projects.”
Many in Europe, especially Southern and Eastern, said they had almost no experience of Green IT within
their or any other companies. One Belgian said it “has not yet reached central Europe in any form,” while
another said issues to do with continued survival of companies in tough times “has taken the eye off
green IT.” Many explained that little was being done outside of mere lip service, one Cypriot saying, “Most
businesses are sceptic in investing in technologies or procedures towards Green IT.” A lack of emphasis
on the rewards of Green IT, aside from the potential cost aspect, was cited as a problem. “There is a highlevel assumption that Green IT is not cost-effective in many organizations. This is a fallacy leading from
an insufficiently holistic approach,” explained one European.
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6. Who’s Heard of Green IT?
IDG Connect
Background
Green Fatigue Requires A New Way
With so many Green IT-based papers being released (and often such polarised thinking on the
subject), it’s possible that Green fatigue may account for the difficulty in finding ample numbers of U.S.
participants, as well as causing a higher level of indifference as to the specifics from the Europeans.
Often Green-based IT reports feature an emphasis on the negative, which while important, can drain
interest and enthusiasm, on top of marketers bandying around false or suspect information from all
sides (aka ‘Greenwashing’). One commenter on the US side of the survey said that there was “Too much
greenwash, too much cultural inertia (resistance to change/innovation) and too many false escape
routes e.g. outsourcing/managed services/cloud,” which was echoed by others.
Despite much doom and gloom among Green IT literature, there are however occasionally a few positive
releases : The “Green ICT Handbook” from Global Action Plan, “The Enabling Technologies Of A LowCarbon Economy” from Enabling Technology, The GeSI SMARTer 2020 report, for example, but if more
Green IT reports took a positive, proactive spin on the subject, attitudes on the subject may improve.
Our survey shows that most professionals feel that Green IT needs more promotion, and taking a more
positive spin on them could result in more enthusiasm for the subject.
How the US & Europe Differ On Green
Policy-wise, though it differs across individual countries, Europe as a whole is right at the fore when it
comes to trying to go Green. The EU is funding the "Eurocloud" project for cleaner Cloud technology,
and aims to make Europe the "home of Green computing". Couple this with numerous directives and
regulations and it's very hard to fault Europe on its policy efforts, while during his election campaign,
President Obama stated that 'climate change is not a hoax', something that wouldn't need to be said in
most countries.
In Greenpeace’s Good Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics - it sought to ‘evaluate leading
consumer electronics companies based on their commitment and progress' in a variety of environmental
criteria. In this, Indian electronics company Wipro took the top spot, while the US and Europe both
featured two each in the top ten - HP (2nd) & Dell (5th), Nokia (3rd) & Phillips (10th).
On a more company-to-company basis, there are good guys and bad guys from both regions. In Europe,
SAP and Logica have made significant efforts, while Google & Facebook are both embracing Green data
centers. On the other hand, Microsoft recently came under fire for trying to hide a $210,000 penalty
relating to energy use and heavy use of diesel generators meant for ‘backup use'- 3,615 hours in a year
compared to Yahoo's 65.
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7. Who’s Heard of Green IT?
IDG Connect
The Bright Side
While it’s true that IT accounts for a higher percentage of energy consumption than at any point the
industry’s history, EMC’s CSO, Kathrin Winkler makes a good point to remind us, “If the automobile
industry had gotten efficient as quickly as the IT industry in the last 40 years, we'd be getting 450,000
miles to the gallon.”
Scandinavia has become increasingly important in the data center world thanks to its use of renewable
energies and natural cooling, among them Norway’s Green Mountain and the Thor Data Center in
Iceland. Meanwhile in the US, Microsoft have built a data center in Wyoming that runs on biofuel from a
waste facility.
Conclusion
Green IT continues to be a polarising issue within the tech community. With so much, often contradictory
literature being continually released, it can be hard to gain some proper perspective and formulate
ideas and strategies. This problem is only exacerbated by a lack of overarching approach from either
governments or the business community. Our findings show that while many acknowledge that Green
IT is an important topic – especially when it comes to environmental impact & waste - business & IT
professionals from both Europe and the US feel that government and businesses need to do more to
promote awareness.
About IDG Connect
IDG Connect, a division of International Data Group (IDG), the world’s largest technology media
company, produces, publishes and distributes local IT and business information on behalf of a truly
global client base. Established in 2005, we have a fully nurtured audience of 2.6 million professional
decision-makers from 130 countries, and an extended reach of 38 million names. This lets us conduct
research, create independent analysis and opinion articles, and drive long-term engagement between
professionals and B2B marketers worldwide. For more information visit www.idgconnect.com
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