The Green Technology Initiative surveyed over 100 IT managers, consultants, network and general managers during April and May 2007.

It found that over 79% of respondents did not associate power costs to hardware spending of IT budgets, and over 95% were unaware of how efficient their IT systems were – mainly because they had no way to measure them.

Dan Sutherland, founder of the Green Technology Initiative, warned that the current rate state of affairs is unsustainable given the high rate of IT growth.

He noted that the lifetime power costs of powering a modern small server box easily exceeds its initial purchase price.

What we are doing in IT today is not sustainable. Systems efficiency is the cheapest and easiest way of reducing the carbon footprint of the work you, Sutherland said.

While over 90% of respondents acknowledging that reducing the carbon footprints of their IT systems is a central part of any green strategy, most UK companies are not doing anything to translate that into action, said Chris Hines, director of sustainability at the Eden Project, green advocacy group based in the UK.

Instead they’re looking at suppliers and the government to carry the responsibility.

Sutherland also bemoaned the apathy of UK businesses today to make their IT systems greener.

Whilst undoubtedly UK enterprises are willing to take action, many lack the incentive, knowledge and resources to make immediate changes.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. The survey does find that companies are cottoning on to a basic fundamental of green IT – namely switching off a system that’s not in use. Yet less than 50% of companies admitted that it’s something they did not enforce in the past, but were starting to now.

Our View

Our increasing reliance on computer systems IT systems in everyday life is akin to our increased reliance on automobiles. While automobile pollution might be more visible, the cost of powering up our IT systems is just as damaging to the environment. Yet for many companies it’s a case of passing on the buck – in this case to IT hardware vendors and government.

But as big chunks of ice-bergs continue to crash into the Arctic sea, IT manufacturers, governments and IT end-users all need to work together to quickly reduce carbon dioxide emissions for the sake of the planet. A reduction figure of 20% by 2010 has been bandied around in some government circles in the UK. But we’re nowhere near meeting that right now. Like all matters green the rhetoric often falls short of any immediate action.