BT to measure IT carbon footprints

BT is to launch service that helps firms measure their IT-created carbon footprints.

The telecoms behemoth is setting up a sustainability practice under the Global Services umbrella brand and will calculate customers' CO2 emissions produced by IT services. After using the metric it will offer advice on cutting the size of the footprint. The service will be initially available in the UK and US.

Some areas where firms can take chunks out of their emissions include using virtualisation, home working and teleconferencing, it suggested. Of course, you could argue that the conferencing and remote working ideas will also help BT shift its own services but the firm does have a long record of flexible working for its own staff. Also, BT claims to have cut its own footprint by 60 percent over the last 12 years.