ICT are committed to Imperial's target of reaching net zero for Scope 1 and 2 emissions (energy and campus transport) by 2040 and minimising Scope 3 emissions (goods and services we buy) as far as possible. As part of this, we are making changes to ensure we can get there.
To achieve this, we are reviewing our energy usage across our end user computing (PCs and Macs) estate, as well as reviewing our data centre energy usage. One of the biggest contributors to Imperial’s energy usage is ICT.
Learn about the impact of technology on the environment
Our Head of Digital Workplace, Neil Hanham, is part of the Sustainable Imperial Expert Advisory group and we are working in collaboration to reduce our carbon footprint across our service and to reducing our electricity usage. The group provides advice to the Sustainability Strategy Committee and onwards to the University Management Board and will develop and advise on sustainability initiatives for the university.
ICT Sustainability initiatives
Locally in ICT, we have created a Sustainability Task Group, formed of staff who are passionate about sustainability and volunteer alongside their day job to action our initiatives:
- reviewing policy for PCs and other devices to see if we can change our power setting options to reduce energy consumption
- evaluating the environmental impact and cost implications of replacing older PCs with newer, more energy-efficient models
- working in partnership with the University of Edinburgh to understand the software lifecycle from production to usage and its environmental impact
- improving our monitoring and data capture capabilities to see trends in power usage of Imperial devices and identify potential energy saving activities
- analysing the environmental impact of Imperial printers and taking steps to reduce the impact
- moving staff away from desktops onto more energy-efficient laptops
- raising awareness of sustainable behaviours like switching off equipment when not in use and only printing when necessary
- working with our procurement team to better understand how our choices impact the environment, and increasing sustainability measures in the procurement process
- Reducing the impact of our High Performance Computing servers through eemerging technologies and partnerships. Read related news.
In addition to the above we have been educating ourselves on the impact of IT and technology on the environment. Keep reading to learn about the impacts of mining, manufacturing, packaging, shipping, usage, and recycling e-waste.