The existence of the EU 20-20-20 Renewable Energy Directive is widely unknown by IT professionals, with more than 40 percent unaware of the regulation.

The directives regulation is aimed at reducing carbon emissions alongside energy consumption. A survey from energy efficiency company Emerson Network Power has revealed that IT firms have not yet moved to carry out direct measures due to the long length of time before targets need to be achieved.

The uptake of data centres and the value of data analytics have increased energy consumption within the IT sector, with global companies now looking to locate such centres in environments that increase energy efficiency. IT organisations are realising the cost savings from locating services, such as Google establishing data centres in Finland due to the low temperature benefits.

The survey revealed that respondents were passively moving to increase energy efficiency through the modernisation of equipment that increased efficiencies.