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Fujitsu's Low-carbon Initiatives

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PCQ Bureau
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In a latest report on 'Low-Carbon and Environmental Leadership in ICT Industry, 2010', Gartner Inc. and WWF Sweden assess that ICT industries foresee climate change and sustainability as emerging opportunities. The study evaluated Green credentials and examined vendors driving initiatives to reduce green-house gases (GHG) contributed by ICT. Of the 28 invited by Gartner and WWF, the 19 participating companies included: Accenture, BT, CSC, Alcatel Lucent, Cisco, Dell, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Fujitsu, HP, IBM, Lenovo, Microsoft, SAP, Sun Microsystems, TCS, Verizon, Wipro and Xerox.

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With a focus on the 2 percent of ICT's global CO2 emissions, Fujitsu is focusing on Green ICT throughout the entire product lifecycle, from basic technology research and development, to produce design and operation, and through to operating recycling services. In addition to its own Green IT labeling, Fujitsu has come up with solutions such as the 'zero-watt' range of monitors, PCs and servers, and the PRIMERGY CX 1000 cloud server, which set new standards in datacenter economics by optimizing cost drivers of power, heat and space.

Towards Greener ICT

1>Zero Watt Displays and PCs

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While an Eco button and automatic brightness controls enable an energy saving of approximately 50%, Fujitsu's technologies for displays have enabled to achieve zero watt power consumption in stand-by mode. In addition to displays, Fujitsu's ESPRIMO E/P990PC series do not consume any power in stand-by mode.



'While zero watt PCs differ from conventional PCs in terms of their power supply unit, motherboard and BIOS, they do not represent an entirely new product. However, we had to completely remodel the BIOS and motherboard to achieve zero-watt power consumption.' says Peter Bush, Head, Zero-Watt Development Team, Fujitsu.

2>Data Center Energy Savings

Fujitsu's London North Data Center was able to successfully save energy by leveraging Fujitsu's management expertise. For example, a machine room is normally kept at a temperature of about 21 degree Celsius but research revealed that a temperature increase of 1 or 2 degree Celsius would have no effect on machine's performance. Similarly, while humidity should be maintained in the proximity of 50%, studies confirmed a slight increase or decrease in humidity will not cause any problems in machine management. Other measures introduced included the floor layout so that air with different temperatures would not mix. These efforts helped the facility to reduce yearly CO2 emissions significantly.



'Energy consumption is now a fundamental part of running a datacenter, contributing around 30-40% to the total cost. So achieving a sustainable reduction in energy bills is a key driver for our business.' says Chris Flanagan, Operations Development Manager, Fujitsu.

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3>Server Power Reductions

PRIMERGY BX 900 blade server is designed for optimum performance per watt and virtualization capabilities resulting in lower power demands and operating costs. Through application of low power components and better cooling efficiency, Fujitsu claims to reduce electricity consumption by 40% compared to rack mount servers. It also in a way has reduced the burden on the air conditioning of the entire data center. PRIMERGY CX 1000 cloud server is also optimizing cost drivers of power, heat and space.

Fujitsu is also taking initiatives to help customers to gain a better understanding of and to reduce GHG footprint from their ICT equipment. Say, in Finland, Fujitsu has delivered national electronic prescription center and patient record to the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. The project aims to facilitate effective information exchange between healthcare providers, and opens an e-access service to citizens facilitating them to receive electronic prescriptions, view their health information and reduce visits to health centers. Some similar health record projects have been implemented in Canada and Spain.

'In the future we foresee a world where carbon emission metrics can be sensed, measured and displayed in real time, helping to manage our activities as they relate to the global environment.' says Atsuhisa Takahashi, President, Corporate Environmental Strategy Unit, Fujitsu.

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