Monday, March 2, 2009

Michael Dell Visits Brussels and Commends European Union’s Green Leadership

Michael Dell today commended the European Union’s initiatives on green procurement, its sustainable industrial policy and its recent communication on information and communications technology (ICT) for energy efficiency. Speaking to EU officials, Mr. Dell said his company wanted to work with EU institutions in framing these policies and others in the future to preserve the environment while driving economic competitiveness and productivity.

“The European Commission can play an important role in motivating Member States to use ICT strategically to ‘green’ their own public infrastructure and services. Europe, as a leader in setting environmental policies, can continue to influence and inspire similar approaches around the globe,” said Mr. Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell. “With the right policy mix, we can lead the transition and shape the future of a prosperous, low-carbon economy.”

Joined by officials of the European Commission focused on environment and information society policy, Mr. Dell discussed the power of Green IT in mitigating environmental and climate change problems across the economy. He said Green IT tools can drive efficiency and productivity in all sectors of the economy, enabling improvements in the use of energy resources.

Mr. Dell specifically referenced a study conducted by The Climate Group, co-sponsored by Dell, “SMART2020: Enabling the low carbon economy in the information age,” which suggests that ICT could deliver approximately 7.8 GtCO1 of emissions savings by 2020, or 15 percent of total projected emissions in 2020.

European IT Departments Pursuing Green Technology

Dell today also released findings of a specially commissioned IDC Green IT Barometer Study2 that shows more than half of European IT managers already have a Green IT strategy in place or plan to implement one in the next 24 months. Seventy-five percent of European organizations cited cost pressure as a key driver for Green IT while 72 percent cited regulatory requirements. Mr. Dell said that European countries such as the U.K. are developing aggressive strategies for Greening IT, adding, “Dell wants to work with private and public sector institutions across Europe to help them in these crucially important efforts.”

More than a third of survey respondents said that IT plays an important role in reducing an organization's energy and carbon footprint, as well as supporting its corporate social responsibility objectives in the next three years.

Fulfilling a Commitment

Dell is fulfilling a commitment to become the ‘greenest’ technology company on the planet by driving environmental improvements throughout its global business and supply chain, and helping customers simplify and navigate green technologies.

Yesterday, the company announced it is transitioning all of its new laptop displays to light-emitting diode (LED) in the next twelve months. Dell’s LED mercury-free displays are far more energy-efficient than traditional displays. For example, Dell’s 15-inch LED displays consume an average of 43 percent less power at maximum brightness, resulting in extraordinary cost and carbon savings.

In June, the company achieved another energy efficiency milestone by becoming the first company to introduce an “80 PLUS Gold-certified” power supply for servers, exceeding 2009 targets outlined by the Climate Savers Computing Initiative.

In August, Dell announced that it had met its carbon neutral goal more than five months ahead of schedule through a combination of operational efficiencies, greater investment in green power and responsible offsets to cover remaining impacts. The company also introduced its first “hybrid” PC that is about 80 percent smaller than a standard desktop and consumes up to 70 percent less energy.

Based on worldwide unit sales beginning in 2005 with power-management features enabled, Dell estimates that its OptiPlex desktop systems alone have helped customers save more than $2.8 billion and avoid approximately 27 million tons of CO2.

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