Crosby commits to carbon neutral operations
Crosby today announced that, within 12 months, the company will have reached full
carbon neutrality.
Through the introduction of techniques such as virtualisation and consolidation, and by using
more efficient equipment and adopting smarter working practices, Crosby aims to have the first
carbon neutral data centre in the UK.
This commitment to carbon neutrality is just the latest in a long line of initiatives taken as
part of Crosby's ongoing 'eco-plan', which has already seen the company harness
renewable energy sources, reduce its energy consumption, and increase the number of products it
recycles.
Matt Wilson, CEO said: "This time last year we had a number of computers performing separate
tasks, all of which were consuming significant amounts of power and emitting large quantities of
heat.
"Since then we have almost halved the number of computers used in our operations, reducing
power consumption by 50% and heat emissions by 65%. As a result, air conditioning can be used
more sparingly and we have reclaimed valuable floor space in our data centre.
"Overall, the changes introduced to date have reduced our total electrical demand by over 70%,
and brought about a significant reduction in carbon emissions."
Coupled with Crosby's in–house, renewable energy supplies (which include solar panels,
wind turbines and an on–site hydrogen fuel cell), this massive drop in energy consumption
makes the company almost completely self–sufficient in terms of its energy requirements.
According to Matt, Crosby is now ideally positioned to build on its 2005 promise to maximise its
commitment to green operations.
"Having established ourselves as a frontrunner in environmental management, we feel
confident that now is the time to push our achievements to the next level. This new goal of
carbon neutrality acknowledges the progress we have made so far, and underlines our ongoing
dedication to environmental sustainability."
Crosby's Green Power
Matt explains that, while at times of limited sunlight and low winds Crosby does rely on supply
from the national grid, since its data centre is situated on a hill less than two miles from the
coast, it receives high levels of wind activity throughout most of the year. In addition, levels
of sunlight during the summer months look set to continue to rise.
"In essence, there are times when we don't generate that much energy from our own sources,
but more commonly, we're producing an excess of electricity and selling the surplus energy back to
the national grid.
"In an average month, at times we over–generate, and at other times under–generate.
This, together with the recent reductions in energy demand from our computers and the savings we've
made as result, has the potential to make Crosby carbon neutral within the next 12 months.
In the Communications and I.T. industry, computers and technologies are constantly being updated. As
it comes out of warranty, a lot of our equipment is being replaced with more up-to-date,
energy–efficient models. In 12 months or fewer, we should have replaced almost all of our old
equipment, and our calculations – based on the manufacturers' specifications of the new
equipment – indicate a carbon neutral position for our operations at this point."
Raising awareness
Matt believes that Crosby's will be first data centre in the UK to become carbon neutral, and
hopes that his company's achievements will encourage other small businesses to follow suit.
"Crosby's 'eco–plan' offers an economically viable means of neutralising
carbon emissions and contributing to the sustainability of our ecosystem. Far from compromising on
productivity, our development of renewable energy sources has enabled us to achieve a 50% increase
in power generation capacity.
"We hope that the success we've had with green power will encourage other small businesses
to adopt similar attitudes towards energy consumption and the environment."
As part of its commitment to raising environmental awareness, Crosby is looking to share its
experiences with other businesses and organisations, and Matt urges companies to get in touch and
find out how they can benefit from becoming carbon neutral.
"Many businesses think that 'going green' is too expensive and that the extra costs
can never be recovered, but this is short–sighted and leads to companies wasting both energy
and money without even considering the alternatives.
"Over the last 2 years, Crosby has invested a lot of time and gained vast experience in how to
reduce carbon emissions as a business. Working with various partners, we have undertaken
groundbreaking research, and discovered that 'going green' can, in fact, have huge financial
benefits.
"Nowadays, almost every organisation has some sort of I.T. infrastructure that consumes power
and emits heat, thereby contributing to global warming. By adopting smarter operating practices,
companies can reduce power consumption and heat output, while at the same time saving money on
energy bills and maintenance costs. Through doing so, they too could realise a goal of carbon
neutrality.
Responsibility
"We believe that business leaders have an inherent responsibility to the environment and
should therefore be accountable for any impact their operations might have on it. Many
organisations currently claim to be 'green', but in practice this often amounts to little
more than switching to energy–saving light bulbs and turning off the air conditioning when
leaving the office, and there exists no real intent to actually do something worthwhile in terms
of reducing carbon emissions.
"Nearly every day we hear negative press concerning the irreversibly damage we are inflicting
on the environment, but few companies actually do anything about it. We have reviewed every aspect
of our business and been proactive in taking the necessary steps to significantly reduce our carbon
footprint. From paperless billing and limiting the amount of rubbish produced, to using automatic
corridor lighting and recycling the heat from our server rooms to heat our offices, the small but
effective changes we have made all contribute to a reduction in carbon emissions. What's more,
we have paid for all these measures in the savings made on electricity costs alone, and will
ultimately not just be carbon neutral, but cost neutral too!
"From an outside perspective, it could be assumed we are environmentalists or belong to a
political green party, but this is not the case. We simply believe are that we should be
responsible and accountable for any adverse effects our operations might have on the environment."
More information on Crosby's environmental polices can be found at http://www.crosbycomms.co.uk/environment.php
Definitions:
Carbon neutral: The net release of zero carbon emissions as a result of company operations,
whereby activities that produce and release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the
atmosphere are balanced by activities that remove carbon from the atmosphere.
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