The software and aviation industries have similar carbon footprints globally – and that was the case even before AI became the behemoth it is now. So, we really need to know more about how software and programming can change, and what we can do about our footprints.
Software engineer Annie Freeman ups the Kiwi quota on the show as she joins us to share her experiences and knowledge working in sustainable IT, green software – and code pruning.
We discover just what those terms mean, how software designers and programmers can influence their products’ impact on the environment, and how green ops and fin ops (but not special ops) fit into the picture.
Annie tells us how more efficient software can lead to the need for fewer servers, and thus benefits both the bottom line for a business and the environment, and how webpages can be built to have a similar impact.
We consider how AI can help with these tasks, but has also led to firms drawing back on commitments to reduce their climate impact, and the effects it has had on both coding and editing code.
Plus, why did some airlines take a single olive out of each salad on board their planes? Why do data centres in Australia have different footprints from those in the USA? And what would happen if you were to get rid of that legacy code embedded deeply into your website?
Discover more about Annie here: https://anniefreeman.co/
Find out more about the Green Software Foundation here: https://greensoftware.foundation/
And you can listen to our previous episode AI, Data Centres, and The Great Energy Problem here: https://pod.fo/e/3403ed
Transforming Tomorrow
Sustainability is key for any business that wants to build a lasting legacy. From carbon footprints to biodiversity to modern slavery, seabeds to factory floors, everything matters.
On Transforming Tomorrow, we make the complex understandable, the theory practical, as we guide you through the ever-changing and often exciting world of sustainability in business.
Speaking to internationally renowned experts and business leaders, we uncover how to mainstream environmental, social and economic sustainability into purposeful business strategy and performance.
Whether you are leading transition in your business, want to build a corporation with a green heart or change your individual actions, or just want to know more about how space weather might affect your operations, Transforming Tomorrow is the show for you.
Hosts Jan and Paul bring insight, perspective, and not a little amount of disagreement, to all the subjects, helping you find the message among the madness.
Join us every Monday to uncover new insights and become a little more inspired that you can make a difference.
You can find transcripts for most episodes at: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/pentland/resources-for-education-and-practice/transforming-tomorrow-podcast/transcripts/
Send your questions on any of the issues we discuss in Transforming Tomorrow to [email protected] or fill in our feedback form here: https://forms.office.com/e/7Bw4rDiRDt
Find out more about the Pentland Centre and its work here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/pentland/
Meet the Hosts
Professor Jan Bebbington is the Director of the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business at Lancaster University. Jan is an expert on accounting, benchmarking (to her co-host’s annoyance), and how business and sustainability intersect.
Jan loves nature and wants to protect it – and hopes she can change the world (ideally for the better). She is also motivated to address inequality wherever it is found and especially to eliminate forced, bonded or child labour. Transforming Tomorrow is one small step on that quest.
Paul Turner is a former sports journalist who now works promoting the research activities in Lancaster University Management School – a poacher turned gamekeeper as his former colleagues would have it.
Paul has always been interested in nature and the natural environment – it comes from growing up in Cumbria – and has been a vocal proponent of the work of the Pentland Centre since joining Lancaster University. He does not like rankings and benchmarking, and is not afraid to say so.