We report on data centers all the time here, especially looking at the innovative ways companies are making their computing centers more efficient. With large-scale computing facilities becoming central to operations for companies in a wide range of industries, managing data center growth and costs is a top-of-mind issue for IT professionals.

This week, we have a couple of interesting stories that serve to bookend the topic of green data centers. On the non-green end of the spectrum is a new report out from Frost & Sullivan that finds that despite big growth in demand for data center services, green IT is still a hard sell in Asia. Perhaps it's a matter of getting bigger first, then getting greener.

Once your company has embraced the benefits of and need for green data center practices, then the data center is your playground, and you can underake any number of innovative practices. Case in point: Hewlett-Packard last week unveiled its first-ever 100 percent wind-cooled data center. Located in northeast England, the facility takes advantage of cool North Sea air to keep servers and storage operating smoothly.

Changing topics to another regular issue we cover here, Redemtech's Robert Houghton this week takes a good, hard look at the differences between the e-Stewards e-waste certification (which his company helped to develop) and the Responsible Recycling standard that the electronics recycling industry developed. There are some big differences, and companies looking for truly responsible recycling may be in for a big shock if they don't read the fine print. Read it all here: "What Is -- and What Isn't -- Responsible Electronics Recycling."

These tools and resources from some of the world's largest IT companies serve as a companion to the discussion at the State of Green Business Forum 2010, looking at how technology can address  the 98 percent of the world's CO2 emissions it is not directly responsible for.

This survey from Info-Tech measures measures sentiment towards climate change, green IT, and how IT is reacting to environmental issues, and compares regional differences in adoption of green IT practices.

The Sustainable Electronics Initiative and Illinois Sustainable Technology Center present this two-day conference focused on the latest research and innovation in developing the greenest possible electronics.