We hear that we can help to save the planet by making small changes.  So
if there are energy saving options that individually we can adopt then
let's hear them!  

Kate
___________________________________________________
Kate Fernie
ICT Adviser (EU Projects)
Museums, Libraries and Archives Council
 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Peter Davies
Sent: 14 February 2007 13:43
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: A greener internet?

I think the more people look into the 'green' issue of computers and the
internet the more they will unearth, and so the more questions it will
raise.  For example, we all hear (a lot actually) about the green cost
of leaving a TV on standby - well the same must be true of a home
computer monitor, how 'green' is it to leave your laptop on charge every
night, what is the 'green' cost of computer parts and spares made in
lesser developed countries where a factory (not as green as our own) has
replaced a local woodland, how 'green' is the large booklet, extra USB
cable (never used) and mass amount of packaging supplied with your
digital camera / software or similar?

These are the simple questions that eventually get asked, let alone the
'green' cost of the server farms, the cost of staff getting to and from
these farms, and the food and consumables they use.

Is the Internet 'greener' than a physical visit - Yes, in my opinion the
Internet is green.  Is the whole ICT process and structure 'greener'
than a physical visit - in my opinion, No.  

At the end of the day I can make a decision to walk to my local museum,
eat an apple from a local market and buy a postcard on recycled paper
(whether from the museum or not), but I can't control how I browse sites
from server farm to server farm, I can't say I want that software, but
please don't send me another USB cable or I'll scream!, and I can't
everyone who visits a certain site turn off their PC monitor, or unplug
their laptop charger all the time! 

No doubt there are many more opinions to come on this, but as more come
the discussion will get deeper and wider, until the debate is, in
itself, unsustainable!

Peter


Peter Davies
Outreach Officer (City Museums)
tel: 01227 475 203
email: [log in to unmask]
website: www.favourite-things.org.uk


-----Original Message-----
From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Paul Baker
Sent: 14 February 2007 13:10
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: A greener internet?

One thought on this :

I'm guessing here, but I suspect that the total energy used by a hundred
people paying one visit to a museum is orders of magnitude higher than
the total energy required to support the infrastructure for the same
hundred to access the collections online for a year.

Example : I'm an instrument maker. If I can get detailed plans and
photographs of the Queen Mary Harp online, I don't need to visit
Edinburgh. 
That saves the carbon emissions and energy from a five-hour car trip,
which I reckon would power my share of the museum's server for quite
some time.

I'm sure energy savings could be made within the infrastructure, but the
real savings would come about by proving a comprehensive virtual
experience and discouraging people from physically visiting. Whether
that's a good idea, or whether it would work, is another question.

Paul Baker
Renaissance Musician, Instrument Maker,
Computer Maestro and lots of other things.
Diabolus in Musica and Midlands Early Music Forum [log in to unmask]
www.diabolus.org

P.S. Query - if I can get my harp information cheaply by post, how does
that affect the energy equation?

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