The International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned that the growth of IT could ruin attempts to halt global warming. The organisation's Gadgets and Gigawatts report said that the energy consumed by information and communications technologies will double by 2022, and increase threefold to 1,700 Terawatt hours (TWh) by 2030.

Click here to read the full story: IT energy use could scupper global warming plans

Scotland is to get its first eco-friendly datacentre as part of a major cloud computing development by IT services company Alchemy Plus with backing from Microsoft.

The 20,000 square foot facility will be built at Inverness Harbour, which offers easy access to hydroelectric and wind power, and where the colder climate will help keep cooling bills to a minimum.

It is expected to cost around £20m and will offer secure datacentre services to private and public sector clients on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Click here to read the full story: Inverness to get eco-friendly datacentre

Parliament is to vote on giving Information Commissioner Richard Thomas a 40 per cent pay rise, in a move intended to underline the increased importance and status of his post in the wake of mounting public concern over the security of personal data.

Click here to read the full story: Information Commissioner to get pay rise

Ignorance among UK IT managers and suppliers remains the key obstacle in the adoption of green IT practices.

In a survey carried out by the National Computing Centre (NCC) with 120 IT decision-makers, 18 per cent said they always evaluate the carbon footprint of any new IT systems they purchase, but nearly half said they still did not consider the environmental impact of IT equipment.

Click here to read the full story: Knowledge gap in green IT is hampering further adoption

The Data Protection Act reached its 10th birthday this week amid some controversy.

The law has had a rocky history, confounding regulators, businesses and the public sector as being difficult to interpret, hard to comply with and harder still to enforce.

The Act was conceived to protect the public’s information, and to make sure businesses do not lose or misuse that information.

Click here to read the full story: A decade of data confusion

The dramatic rise in oil prices is causing a rethink of IT strategies, as energy costs look set to drive the IT agenda.

Chief information officers (CIOs) face being charged for datacentre services by kilowatt hours, and industry attempts to curb energy use in datacentres are being seriously questioned.

Energy savings through technologies such as virtualisation are improving performance but can be offset by greater cooling needed for consolidated servers. And even in areas such as software as a service, supplier sources told Computing that customers will also feel the impact of surging energy prices, as costs of running power-hungry datacentres are passed directly to customers.

Click here to read the full story: Surge in oil prices hits IT

Sunderland University has installed what it claims is one of the UK’s first eco-friendly supercomputers, capable of handling powerful processing tasks without the need for extra cooling.

The grid computing system uses 42 Dell PowerEdge 2950 servers running Intel Xeon 5100 chipsets, cutting the energy used by the computer by 50 per cent.

Click here to read the full story: University stacks up eco-friendly credentials

A lack of clear information is discouraging UK business from fully embracing green IT practices, say IT leaders.

The widespread adoption of eco-friendly computing policies is being disrupted by a lack of hard facts on the potential effects of such changes, according to Adrian Davey, head of IT at London Underground train operator Tube Lines.

“Because this is a new subject, there is not a huge amount of relevant data available,” said Davey.

Click here to read the full story: IT needs green information

Spotlight on smart technologies at theatre London’s National Theatre hopes to reduce power use by a sixth at its South Bank site with the introduction of smart technologies.

Energy use in buildings accounts for about half of UK carbon emissions. The National Theatre’s four-phase programme to centrally monitor and control the building’s lighting will help save £100,000 of its £600,000 annual electricity bill.

Click here to read the full story: Spotlight on smart technologies at theatre

Last year ended with technology in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, thanks to a string of “lost” data scandals. As if IT leaders were not already under enough pressure, all things information-related will be high on every chief executive’s agenda in 2008.

Click here to read the full article looking at green computing, economic confidence, privacy, transformational government, digital convergence, and the departure of Bill Gates: The technology year ahead