Platform reduces coding’s carbon footprint

Greenspector improves the efficiency of code to reduce the energy consumption of mobile devices, data centers, and other hardware.

Eco-design has long been implemented in all kinds of technologies and products, making them more efficient and planet-friendly. But data and code, although digital in form, can still be energy intensive. Now a French firm is looking to reduce coding’s carbon footprint.

Greenspector is a software solution that performs energy-use analysis to optimize coding for energy efficiency. The company says poorly coded apps and programs cause energy waste in phones, tablets and laptops, and increase the need for regular replacements and updates of hardware and software.

The startup says the Greenspector program detects energy draining patterns in code, and provides corrective solutions and action plans to reduce its energy footprint. According to founder Thierry Leboucq, the internet will consume as much electricity by 2030 as the whole of humanity in 2008. This can been seen in the massive increase of energy use in data centers. But the startup says its program could potentially cut the number of physical machines in data centers by 30 percent, and cut energy consumption on mobile devices by up to 70 percent.

Greenspector now says it aims to boost its business growth, doubling the size of its team and expanding internationally over the next two years. In Germany, we have already seen ideas to use recycle wasted heat from servers for use in the home. How else can new hardware and software make data transfers more green?