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THE technology sector is at the forefront of this era's green movement. Natural ly, HP and Intel - two of the largest tech companies in the world right now -- are advocates. The two companies are channeling innovation into this movement and their mantra can be deduced to three words: "less is more" -- from manufacturing computer c hips that run on less power to redesigning product packaging that use less raw materials. In their annual Synergy press off-site , dubbed "Greenergy" to conform with the theme, HP and Intel talk about local green initiatives.

SAN FRANCISCO, California -- Talking to attendees of the Oracle Open World here , Intel Corp. President and CEO Paul Ottelini challenged the technology industr y to help the energy industry embrace technology that could help reduce the glo bal "carbon footprint." The Carbon footprint measures the impact of human activities on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced. It is measured in units o f carbon dioxide. Ottelini said Intel and other industry leaders like Oracle are now driving vari ous initiatives to reduce energy consumption in the manufacture and the develop ment of their products, as well as in the running of their operations. The Intel chief executive said Intel has recently been able to save $2 billion in electricity as it implemented initiatives to reduce energy consumption. Intel is now a member of the Green Grid, an information technology industry initiati ve to reduce power consumption. Citing a study by Garnter, Ottelini said that the technology industry presently contributes 2 percent to the global carbon footprint. Intel, for its part, has recently been pushing more programs to reduce the glob al carbon footprint. Ottelini revealed that Intel is now the largest purchaser of renewable energy i n the United States. Meanwhile, Intel, Oracle and other companies have established an organization t hat leverages on technology to transform the energy industry. This recent proje ct hopes to have a bigger impact on green movement, especially on the reduction of the global carbon footprint, Ottelini said. âWhat can we do as an industry to improve energy consumption? The global IT was responsible for 2 percent of global CO2. This 2 percent is likely to go up bec ause IT is one of the fastest growing industries. At Intel, weâre focused on en ergy efficiency. Last year, we introduced the biggest change in transistor tech nology by introducing lower power consumption in our new processors,â the Intel executive added. Ottelini said Oracle has also been driving the reduction of energy consumption by using its technology. âYou can now see how technology can have a large impact on the 2 percent of the global CO2. Question is how we can impact the 98 percent?â he said, posing a c hallenge to the high-tech industry.

Erwin Oliva INQUIRER.net SAN FRANCISCO, California â Amid the highly technical sessions and talks here a t Oracle Open World, there are sessions, exhibits, and non-event related initia tives dedicated to promoting the global green movement. Talking during the Oracle Open World opening day, San Francisco mayor Gavin New som said the city has been host to this major technology event for several year s. Recently, both the city and Oracle have made strides to implement green init iatives. Newsom stressed San Francisco is one of the cities that have the best recycling programs in the United States. The city currently recovers 69 percent of the m aterials it discards, with the goals of 75 percent landfill diversion by 2010 a nd zero waste by 2020. He also pointed out that the power that lights Moscone Center, the venue of Ora cle Open World, is a result of their solar energy program. In its website, Oracle added that San Francisco's Moscone Center, wh ich has been instituting green programs for years, has replaced all disposable food and beverage products with biodegradable items. It is also evident this year that Oracle has been using less paper, as most of the materials given to attendees, the press and bloggers are now available in e lectronic copy through its website or through electronic kiosks found all over the venue. According to Oracle, it has launched the OpenWorld Green Program this year to f ocus on sustainability and helping customers and partners attending the show to also become more aware of green movement. âOracle is committed to using online methods of communication wherever possible and appropriate in its drive toward paperless meetings and events. This includ es taking advantage of electronic ticketing and reservation systems and using o nline registration, online agendas and exhibitor kits, digital and recyclable s ignage, downloadable speaker presentations and handouts and electronic event ev aluation,â the company said. In 2007, Oracle said that 57 percent of all waste was diverted from landfill, 2 ,000 pounds of food was donated to San Francisco charity, 80 percent of exhibit ors used online kits, print materials used 10 percent post-consumer recycled-co ntent paper and soy-based inks, and shuttles and other transportation focused o n using âgreenerâ vehicles. About 43,000 people are attending this yearâs Oracle OpenWorld in San Francisco . This international event runs from September 21 to September 25 at Moscone Ce nter. This year's conference will feature 1,800-plus educational sessions; 450- plus partner exhibits including the Intel-sponsored Inside Innovation; 300-plus live Oracle product demos in the Oracle DEMOgrounds and 200-plus industry sess ions.

By Alex Villafania INQUIRER.net COMMERCIAL electronics company Nokia is leading the pack in the latest list of "green electronics companies" of international environmental group Greenpeace. The quarterly "Guide to Greener Elect ronics" also puts Dell, Lenovo, and Sony Ericsson at the top of the list of around a dozen global electronics firms evaluated by Greenpeace. Other companies considered "green" in the list are Motorola, Samsung, Toshiba, Acer, Fujitsu-Siemens, Apple, HP, Panasonic LGE and Sony. However, the last six companies are still in the latest guide's "red zone" for weak take-back programs of end-of-life products, not removing hazardous chemica ls in their products, or lack of policies on conducting both. The "Guide to Greener Electronics" is a ranking system identifying computer and electronics companies that have product recycling policies as well as removal of hazardous substances in their products and processing. As of their latest June report, Greenpeace noted that many companies are alread y pressed to implement product take-back and recycling, as well as removing the use of hazardous materials (lead, mercury, PVC) in their products. Greenpeace Southeast Asia Toxic Campaigner Beau Bacongius said there are more f irms to that will be implementing cleaner measures. Bacongius also said that the purpose of the guide is to promote change among th e larger companies, which should trickle down to their partners and smaller com ponent firms, such as original electronics manufacturers. She said these same OEMs also create products for the do-it-yourself market of computer builders. "Eventually, companies will build environment-friendly devices and would have e ffective take back and recycling measures," Bacongius said. Editor's note: Photo by Lea Guerrero, Greenpeace

By Lawrence Casiraya INQUIRER.net THE QUEST conti nues to produce the cheapest computers people can lay their hands on, which pit s rival chipmakers Intel and AMD in a rather different ballgame. Intel is coming up with a number of designs such as the Classmate PC, while AMD is making $100 notebooks for MIT's One Laptop Per Child campaign. But for a change, is anyone making a "green" PC? I asked Chris Hines, SVP for r esearch at Forrester, whose photo is shown here, that question during a recent Singapore summit by HP. He told me to wait for maybe a year or two. Chris flew halfway around the world from Boston to lecture about the benefits of going green in order for CIOs to sell IT projects to CEOs. As for my green PC question, it somehow piqued his interest. Non-toxic PC parts ? Maybe. Or one that's made of "harvested" materials from old computers. Maybe cheaply-made green PCs then intended for use in Third World countries. On that note, with so many surplus computers flooding the market, the Philippines alrea dy is a hardware junkyard. But a green PC for retail? Chris and I agreed that would require a massive supp ly chain overhaul. The challenge lies in making all suppliers adhere to standar ds. Who knows? Maybe someone like Apple or even IBM can do it. These companies are good at branding, anyway. If some people already drive a Toyota Prius, why not lug around a green laptop?