Energy efficient and "green" information and communications technology practices of the British government avoided an estimated 232,000 tons of carbon emissions and saved about lb1.26 million ($1.95 million) in costs in one year, according to the first annual progress report on the I.C.T. strategy from the cabinet office.

The Greening Government: ICT Strategy was initiated to urge the ministerial departments to reduce waste and integrate green principles and practices in the I.C.T. operations.

I.C.T. is a major consumer of energy and resources, said chair Jennifer Rigby of the Green I.C.T. Delivery Unit or G.D.U. the implementing division for the strategy.

"It also offers the opportunity to create greener business processes overall and to transform organizations. With costs continually rising and our dependence on ICT increasing, the need for us to adopt smarter, greener working practices, and to procure and operate shared services while eliminating I.C.T. duplication and waste, becomes ever more important."

The update showed that out of the more than 20 departments, around 12 have made an assessment on how they are working on the green I.C.T. strategy. Among them are the three of the largest sectors such as the Department for Work and Pension, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and the Ministry of Defence, which is the biggest energy consumer of the governmental I.C.T.

"Embedding and adopting green I.C.T. principles and practices are fundamental to achieving a low carbon, cost-effective I.C.T. estate," said Andy Nelson, government chief information officer.

The G.D.U. has plans to include energy performance of data centers in the strategy. There 10 departments that consumes an estimated 1.87 power usage effectiveness for their data centers, relatively higher than the government's target of 1.5.

These 10 departmental centers accounts for about 101,000 tons of carbon emissions and lb17.5 million of energy costs.

The first annual progress report on the green I.C.T. scheme will be the baseline of the G.D.U. in its execution for the coming years.

The G.D.U. said it will continue to review and refresh the direction of the green I.C.T. scheme providing more transparency in carbon emissions and associated costs.

"The journey towards our Green ICT vision has begun and we have made significant progress already. We will now build on this solid foundation and through strong governance deliver on our green I.C.T. commitments." – C. Dominguez