Defra equips staff with 'green' laptops
Kablenet.com
Published: 21 Jul 2008 09:23 BST
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is moving 10,000 civil servants to energy-saving laptops, as part of its 'Renew IT' programme.
The move to laptops started in June and is planned for completion by the end of December. It will cover all staff within the department, as well as its agencies Natural England and Animal Health, with the cost included within the department's outsourcing contract with IBM.
Helen Ghosh, Defra's permanent secretary, said that most carbon emissions were generated through the production of hardware. "We are all going to have laptops which are produced in a very sustainable chain but which also have some of those key, up-to-date facilities to make sure they are sustainable in use," she told the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee, in evidence published on 14 July.
Ghosh added that the Renew IT programme will reduce the number of pieces of hardware any employee can have. She said she has a fixed personal computer in her office, a laptop for home use and a BlackBerry for mobile use. "In the new world, I will be able to have one item, which is a laptop which I shall carry to and from [work] on my bicycle and plug in at the office or carry home and use at home," she said.
The department said that staff will receive a Lenovo ThinkPad X61, running Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system and Office 2007 software, along with a laptop rucksack. These will be usable anywhere, are encrypted and have the option of logging on using a fingerprint.
"Introducing a single device, or identical kit for all staff, means a greener IT system, as well as reduced physical asset charges and support costs for Defra," said a spokesperson, adding that the laptops use up to 70 percent less power than personal computers.
As they are smaller, they will also allow the department to make better use of its office space, the spokesperson added.
In her evidence to the committee, Ghosh said that Defra has donated a "substantial amount" of hardware to the newly formed UK Border Agency, as a result of having hardware to spare through its upgrading programme. "So we are reusing within government some IT," she added.
The committee's report stated that increased use of IT is blamed as the biggest single factor behind rising emissions of greenhouse gases from civil government departments.
The report stated that attention should be paid to reconditioning hardware rather than buying new, and to the amounts of energy used for both equipment and for its air-conditioning.
Defra has also recently said that it is testing the power-saving options within Vista, as well as instructing security guards to switch off machines that are left on without explanation.
On 17 July, the Cabinet Office released the Greening Government ICT report, recommending steps that departments should take to reduce their carbon emissions.
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