Digital uses

Infomaniak Switzerland works with web design and solutions and have implemented several green solutions across the company. Their services and offices are powered 100% by certified renewable energy. Their data centres are not airconditioned, they are cooled only using filtered outside air. Manufacture of the servers they buy represents their biggest CO2 emissions, therefore they are used for 15 years.  Finally, they are certified with ISO 14001 and ISO 50001.

The University of St Andrews will implement the eco-friendly search engine Ecosia (6) across its computer network as part of an ambitious strategy to reach net zero carbon by 2035. The University’s switched to the eco-friendly search engine, which plants trees for internet searches in a bid to tackle the climate emergency. Ecosia will be the default search engine on all classroom computers across campus and students will be advised how they can make the optional switch to Ecosia on their personal devices.

In 2018, BNP Paribas embarked on a program to refresh and expand its high-performance computing (HPC) server farm – a vital hub for applications used to calculate positions and associated risks in the financial markets – at a new site that would account for almost 30% of total capacity. A solution was found with server technology company 2CRSi, which enabled BNP Paribas to recycle the heat produced by the processor cores of the French-based servers to keep the building warm. The bank also looked for solutions for home-based teleworking and relocated several of its data centres to Iceland.

An alliance of US and European companies and non-governmental organisations has formed around the environmental impact of the internet. It includes organisations such as the Green Web Foundation, which aims for a fossil-free internet by 2030 (7), and businesses like EcoPing (8),  which offers a series of tools to reduce website carbon emissions. The result of this collaboration includes a platform, SustainableWebDesign.org (9) where creators of web technology can find methods, recommendations and tools to help them create sustainable products and services. They are based on the Sustainable Web Manifesto, which comprises six principles (10)  addressing environmental impact, but also extending to social impact. Among those principles are clean energy use and resource efficiency, as well as accessibility to all users and non-exploitative design.