This article first appeared in our COP29 special issue of My Green Pod Magazine. Click here to subscribe to our digital edition and get each issue delivered straight to your inbox
Technology can support a lifestyle that many of us would choose: less time tied to the office desk, fewer hours wasted on the commute and the kind of work-life balance that can improve mental health as well as productivity when we fire up the laptop.
Yet tech is also one of the biggest contributors to climate change; in addition to the raw materials extracted to create our hardware, electricity is required to power it and mountains of e-waste are created by built-in obsolescence and a culture of upgrading hardware sooner than is necessary.
On top of all that, power-hungry data centres are now required to power our digital lives.
Forward-thinking businesses are looking at ways to harness the latest innovations in tech as a way to support the lives employees would choose without leaving a negative environmental legacy for future generations – and they are saving money along the way.
‘Switching to an energy-efficient network can yield significant environmental and financial savings’, says Jai Thattil, senior director of Industry & Sustainability marketing at Juniper Networks.
Environmentally, energy-efficient networks help to reduce a company’s electricity consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, and therefore its environmental impact and operational expenses.
‘Studies suggest that by committing to greener telecom networks, operators can potentially cut energy costs by at least 15-20% within one year, with further savings anticipated over a longer period’, Thattil shares. ‘Energy networks optimised and designed to reduce energy use and improve thermal comfort can significantly improve energy efficiency.’
Advancements in power management, the use of sustainable materials in manufacturing and the development of energy-efficient chipsets and components have all contributed to the shift to more efficient hardware – and now artificial intelligence is playing a part as well.
Juniper Networks has introduced the industry’s first and only AI-Native Networking Platform, providing AI-native insight to improve user experiences.
‘This innovation reflects the integration of AI into network operations, allowing for proactive identification and resolution of potential issues in order to enhance network reliability and performance’, Thattil explains.
AI is becoming increasingly important in energy-efficient tech; it’s already being leveraged to optimise power use, predict energy consumption patterns, analyse data from smart devices for more efficient energy management and even automate processes to reduce wasted energy.
‘In January 2024, Juniper introduced the industry’s first AI Native Networking Platform, purpose-built and optimised for AI to enable measurable, secure and reliable connections across every network device, user, application and asset’, Thattil tells us. ‘The platform’s support for AIOps enables fast, automated troubleshooting that reduces inter-site travel. The platform has been shown to eliminate up to 90% of wireless network trouble tickets.’
Now AI is poised to play a significant role in shaping the future of energy-efficient hardware, too; efficient networks reduce physical onsite visits and increase productivity, saving energy.
While AI can be used to improve the efficiency of hardware, energy consumption and environmental impact should both factor heavily at the design stage.
‘Design is key to power consumption, heat dissipation and recyclability’, Thattil tells us. ‘Power-efficient hardware minimises energy consumption, and Juniper’s modular framework makes repairs easier to extend product life.’
This focus on longevity is crucial at a time when e-waste continues to contribute to environmental pollution, resource depletion and health hazards due to the improper disposal and recycling of electronic devices.
Efforts to combat e-waste include initiatives for proper electronic waste recycling, the development of sustainable materials for manufacturing electronics and the promotion of circular economy principles – though we are a long way away from having standardised regulation across different regions.
‘Coordinated efforts are needed if we are to address e-waste on a global scale’, Thattil warns. ‘They must include standardised recycling practices, extended producer responsibility and initiatives to promote the circular economy. Hardware at the end of its useful life should be disposed of through certified e-waste recycling facilities to ensure proper handling of hazardous materials and the recovery of valuable resources.’
Hardware designed for longevity, upgradability and recyclability can play a part in supporting a circular economy by extending the lifespan of electronic devices, reducing waste and promoting the reuse of components, which is where modularity is gaining traction.
‘Designing products for longevity, upgradability and recyclability is crucial in minimising environmental impact, reducing electronic waste and optimising resource efficiency’, Thattil says. ‘While these issues have not always been at the forefront of design, they have become increasingly prominent in recent years due to growing environmental awareness. The speed at which tech is evolving does present a challenge; the hardware and software will have to cope with that.’
Data centres also play a crucial role in the overall efficiency of the tech used by individuals and businesses; they are essential for storing, processing and managing vast amounts of digital data and applications – and these tasks require a lot of power.
‘Data centres use energy for various purposes, including powering servers, cooling systems, networking infrastructure and other operational components, which all lead to significant electricity consumption’, Thattil explains. ‘To streamline operations, our hardware portfolio features the industry’s first 800G router utilising Juniper’s custom silicon, which reduces power consumption by 75% (Watts/Gig) compared with the previous generation. Additionally, our Juniper data centres leverage AIOps for predictive insights, significantly reducing operational expenses.’
For Thattil, the hardware of tomorrow will likely feature increased energy efficiency, resource optimisation and sustainable materials.
‘The shift today should include sustainability as a culture in the entire lifecycle of a product, from research, design, development and adoption of sustainability tech products in home and business’, he shares.
When it comes to software, Juniper’s Energy Intelligence and Traffic steering solutions are just two examples of how efficiencies can benefit users and businesses.
Juniper’s Energy Intelligence is an offbox tool designed to optimise network energy usage by accurately forecasting bandwidth demand, carbon emissions and thermal requirements, enabling proactive and sustainable energy management.
Juniper Power Steering is an innovative solution that optimises network power efficiency by identifying and recommending the deactivation of underutilised network infrastructure components during low-bandwidth demand periods, ultimately reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions without compromising network capacity demands and end-customer experience.
Juniper’s Power Steering innovation was recently awarded Deutsche Telekom’s Green Future Best Practice Award in the ‘Innovation / Potential Game Changer’ category at the 2024 Telekom Campus Fair event in Bonn, Germany.
The Green Future Best Practice Awards recognise best practices from Deutsche Telekom partner companies that are driving a more sustainable and climate-friendly industry through initiatives that support their strategic environmental targets.
Px3’s Dr Justin Sutton-Parker reveals the free apps that will help you reduce your IT carbon footprint.
How AI and circularity can drive business results while slashing emissions and waste in the IT sector.
Green IT hardware can save money and emissions in everyday scenarios.
Michael Wyatt, head of Chrome Enterprise EMEA, Google, on how Google is working to drive sustainability in the tech sector.
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