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ICT and the environment:

A framework for analysis

John Houghton

Victoria University, Melbourne

[email protected]

+61 409 239 109

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ICT has both positive and negative

impacts on the environment

Positive impacts can come from:

Dematerialization and online delivery; A reduction in the need for travel;

A host of modeling, monitoring and management applications; and

rea er energy e c ency n pro uc on an use, an recyc ng.Negative impacts can come from:

The production and distribution of ICT equipment;

Energy consumption in use (directly and for cooling);

or pro uc e-cyc es an e-was e; an

Potentially exploitative applications.

u v .

Centre for Strategic Economic Studies

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Energy use and intensity in historical perspective

1974 1995 Change in

energy use

1974–1995

Annual change

1974–95

(% pa)

Goods industries

Value added (USD bn)

Intensity (MJ/USD)

.

2 091.7

13.7

.

3 209.0

8.3

- . - .

2.1

-2.3

Services

Energy used (PJ) 6 024.7 7 339.4 1 314.7 0.9


Intensity (MJ/USD)

3 428.4

1.8

6 670.2

1.1

3.2

-2.2

Transport

Energy used (PJ) 22 367.0 34 703.7 12 336.7 2.1

Intensity (MJ/USD)

.

86.5

.

73.0

.

-0.8

Residential

Energy used (PJ)


13 828.9

806.8

16 261.4

1973.1

2 432.5 0.8

4.4

Intensity (MJ/USD) 17.1 8.2 -3.4

Total

Energy used (PJ)


70 831.6

6 585.4

84 996.6

12 327.6

14 165.0 0.9

3.0

Centre for Strategic Economic StudiesSource: CSES (2006) Climate Change, Industrial Structure and the Knowledge Economy , Victoria University.

Notes: The countries included in this table are USA, Japan, UK, France and Australia. The goods industries consist of manufacturing;agriculture, forestry and fishing, mining and construction. Energy use is measured in petajoules (PJ), GDP is measured in USD billion in1990 purchasing power parity prices.

. . - .

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Energy use and intensity in historical perspective

n ex o na energy n ens y an energy n ens y y sec or, -

Households


Source: Eurostat and the European Commission’s Ameco database.

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ICTs – excluding radio and television (Circa 2006)

LAN and office telecoms7%

Printers

6%(1 Gigatonne of CO2 equivalent)

PCs and monitors (excl.

embodied energy)

Mobile telecoms

9%

40%

Fixed-line telecoms

15%

Servers (incl. cooling)

23%


Kumar, R. & Mieritz, L. (2007) Conceptualizing Green IT and data center power and cooling issues , Gartner Research Paper.

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“Can we stop the Internet destroying our planet?”

Centre for Strategic Economic Studieshttp://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/mg19726372.700-can-we-stop-the-internet-destroying-our-planet.html

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- Incl. associated cooling and auxiliary equipment


Koomey, J. (2007) Estimating total power consumption by servers in the U.S. and the world, Analytics Press,Oakland.

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“Turning Green into Gold”


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The “Greener-meter”


Source: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/electronics/how-the-companies-line-up/embed-the-guide-to-greener-ele

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Elasticities, income effects, prices and taxes are key

In his 1865 book The CoalQuestion , Jevons observed that

England's consumption of coalsoare a ter James Wattintroduced his coal-fired steamengine, which greatly improved

e e c ency o omasNewcomen's earlier design. Watt'sinnovations made coal a more

,leading to the increased use ofthe steam engine in a wide range

.increased total coal consumption,even as the amount of coal


application fell.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox

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The evidence to date

The effects of Jevon's paradox in relation to energy efficiency in

the United States is not generally apparent.While total vehicle miles traveled have increased 16% between 1991 and

2001, there is no evidence that owners of hybrid vehicles drove twice as

much just because their cars were twice as efficient.

...we have not seen evidence that radically more efficient commercialbuildings cause people to leave the lights on all night and set their office

. ,

office towers to schools have often been higher than projected. People do

not seem to change their behaviors simply because they have a moree c en u ng.

So far, the evidence from the field of more efficient technologies


u r r y u .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox

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Policy initiatives with immediate

effect are necessary

“Policies with immediate effect, in the sense of substantially

reducing global emissions relative to the reference path prior to, .

In several senses climate change is now an immediate and not a

lon run issue. Ra id rowth in emissions such as to reatl

increase the risks of large scale climate damage, is occurringnow, and on present policies emissions will almost double their

2000 level by 2020. This emissions path will in turn lead to rapid

global warming over the next two decades. Thus, while the full

centuries and indeed millennia, both the central causes and the

immediate effects are immediate realities.”

Source: CSES (2006) Climate Change, Industrial Structure and the Knowledge Economy , Victoria University, Melbourne, p30.


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Energy efficiency and alternative energy systems

We need to get a clearer picture of the range and nature of

ICT’s direct, indirect and systemic impacts on theenv ronmen – a rev ew ocus ng on w a s nown a ou

impacts (e.g. where they occur, how big they are, where

.

Such a review would help to identify priority areas for focus

. .

could make a difference).

e a so nee o exam ne ways o ma e s zero-car on,

not just energy efficient, and to find ways for ICTs to

systems.Centre for Strategic Economic Studies

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There are also basic research questions

We need to understand why and where Rebound Effects might

be significant, and what might be done to mitigate them. We need to better understand inter-relationships and model

interactions through key value chains/networks, to better

-

investments needed for alternative energy systems.

-

be monitored over time (e.g. extend work on ICT energy

consumption projections across a range of equipment types). We need to extend and update sectoral models, to explore the

relationship between changing industrial structures and energy

consumption.


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“Can we stop the Internet destroying our planet?”

Can we save our planet

from the Internetrom the Internet

asked The New Scientist

Well we probably can’t save it

.

show, not only how to save the

fromfrom ,

it with ICT.


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