If you think transitioning the tech sector to net zero is all about renewable energy and heat reuse, think again. Small changes in software could make entire data centers redundant - delivering a much bigger saving for the planet. 

Green Software is not just about more efficient code, says Anne Currie. Rewriting everything in C might cut energy use - but it would destroy your company, because writing software is also about delivering products and services to the market on time.

As a leader in the Green Software Foundation, and a seasoned green developer and entrepreneur, Anne has much better ideas. To be green, software should be self-aware, able to report its own emissions, based on the hardware it is being run on, and the energy source used to power it. It should also be able to adjust that energy use, by changing the settings of the hardware as appropriate, or even moving itself to a different location where the electricity has a lower carbon intensity.

Intrigued? Find out more in this podcast.

For more insight, check our article about Green Software in the latest issue of DCD Magazine, which contains input from others in the movement, alongside Anne Currie.

And for still more, look for Building Green Software, an O'Reilly book by Anne Currie, Sarah Hsu, and Sara Bergman, which explains what green software really means, and how we can achieve it. The book is not yet published, but is being made available chapter-by-chapter, on the O'Reilly site.