There are few pieces of office equipment as ubiquitous or as necessary as the personal computer. While the number of PCs in use worldwide is nearly impossible to estimate, their prevalence as a basic tool may be obscuring their role as energy consuming devices.

Because PCs, along with the servers that support them, are estimated to be responsible for 2 percent of all global carbon dioxide emissions, a figure equivalent to all emissions of the gas that have resulted from global airline travel.

Several factors are driving this surprising figure. Corporations and institutions, for example, are increasingly relying on massive data centers where hundreds of servers may be housed in a single complex. Google is estimated to have as many as 450,000 servers housed in 25 locations around the world, while Microsoft has as many as 200,000 and plans to raise that to 800,000 by 2011.

Given the huge numbers of servers, it is no surprise to hear that the amount of electricity consumed worldwide by these machines was estimated to be worth over $7 billion in 2005. If individuals' computers were also factored in, the figure would be even higher.

The issue has already risen to such prominence that companies like Dell Computers, Fujitsu-Siemens and HP are adjusting their product lines to capitalize on the growing effort to save energy. But instead of just expanding their offerings, some companies are also setting examples with their own energy consumption and manufacturing initiatives.

Dell, for example, has said it will become "carbon neutral" by 2008, a concept it hopes to achieve by reducing consumption and sponsoring tree-planting projects in the United States. A carbon neutral entity ensures it absorbs as much carbon dioxide as it produces.

Another key aspect of the "Green IT" movement is that it is using the power of software to control energy consumption. For example, "intelligent" programs are being designed to reduce energy consumption by offices (lighting, air conditioning, etc.) as well as households.

Of course, information technology has long been a factor in the automotive industry, where many embedded systems are enhancing the fuel efficiency of motor vehicles.

In Europe, the topic of Green IT has already reached the governmental level. The Renewable Energies Unit of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre has focused on the subject of energy consumption by data centers, and is scheduled to issue a preliminary draft soon for a code of conduct to be applied to all 27 member states of the European Union.

Although a code of conduct is not necessarily a binding piece of legislation, it can be taken as a step toward one.

The EU has developed several codes of conduct in the IT and ICT (Information and Communication Technology) industries, including for broadband communications, digital TV and uninterruptible power supplies.

All these proposals are grouped under what is called the EU Stand-By Initiative, which began in 1997 as an agreement with individual electronics manufacturers and the European Association of Consumer Electronics Manufacturers to reduce electricity wasted by TVs and VCRs perpetually left in stand-by mode.

Given the broad influence of the EU in setting such international standards as REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical substances, which took effect this year), it is increasingly likely these Green IT initiatives will also take shape as legislation.

Europe's commercial sector has been watching this debate and is taking measures: CeBIT, the world's largest technology showcase, will play a central role in discussing Green IT on the global level. This comprehensive trade show, which takes place each March in Hannover, Germany, will display Green IT exhibits in various locations. There are also plans to create a separate Green IT Summit in cooperation with the German government.

Although Japan has fallen behind in such initiatives, it is now planning to start its own projects. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has announced it will launch a "Green IT Project" next fiscal year, with the goal of dramatically reducing energy consumption by IT infrastructure. METI is seeking to use these cuts as a way to help Japan achieve its global warming targets under the Kyoto Protocol.

As elsewhere, IT-related energy consumption in Japan has been rapidly increasing. According to METI, 50 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity was used in 2006 to run all the servers and PCs in the country. That represents about 5 percent of all electricity use nationwide. For the sake of comparison, the carbon dioxide produced by IT-related energy consumption over this period of time is equivalent to the carbon dioxide emissions of 8 million cars.

Thanks to its convincing history of creating market-defining legislation, the movements of the EU concerning Green IT merit close attention by all active players in this sector. This view is further supported by the fact that the EU has become the world's largest ICT market, according to the European Information Technology Observer. Although the matter hasn't yet reached the level of law, should legal definitions and targets be established as to what constitutes a truly Green IT product, the rest of the world will likely follow.

As in other areas, the EU has positioned itself as an arbiter of what is both cutting edge and socially acceptable. At present, discussions on the direction and extent of Green IT are still in their infancy. But if Japanese companies fail to closely observe or participate in this trend from Europe, they may find themselves deprived of a crucial global ally in the battle for environmental conservation — as well as a gigantic marketplace to sell their goods.

Jochen Legewie is president of German communications consultancy CNC Japan K.K.