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A 474 VOLUME 111 | NUMBER 9 | July 2003 • Environmental Health Perspectives

SustainableFuture

Connectingto a

Environews Innovations

P lanet Earth has a problem, a big problem.The planet’s finite resources are overbur-dened by the unceasing demands of overcon-

sumption. Fortunately, there is an antidote to theproblem: sustainable development, a concept thathas taken root and is gaining acceptance at all levels,from the international political structure to the cor-porate world to the grassroots. Thanks to a variety oftechnological advances affecting everything frompower consumption to product identification, infor-mation and communications technologies (ICT)could very well play a pivotal role in the ultimateattainment of a sustainable planet.

The core goal of sustainable development is toshift the world’s economic mindset from the “take-

make-waste” philosophy to the so-called triple bot-tom line—a new paradigm in which value is derivedfrom economic, societal, and environmental benefitsworking in synergy to achieve balanced growth andprosperity within a renewable framework. ICT con-tributes to this shift by enabling alternatives to cur-rent ways of doing business that allow win–win–winscenarios characterized by healthy economic returnsin harmony with concomitant societal and environ-mental benefits. Whether it’s automating our infra-structural networks or streamlining communications,digitizing electricity or selling functionality, telecom-muting or reducing inventories, ICT is the basis for astunning breadth of new technologies that could leadto more sustainable commerce.

Environmental Health Perspectives • VOLUME 111 | NUMBER 9 | July 2003 A 475

Innovations | Connecting to a Sustainable FutureBr

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Products Become ServicesAs the trend that some call theInformation Economy takes hold, moreand more products are evolving into ser-vices, with companies selling functionalityand information instead of physical goods.This growing trend can bring with it con-siderable benefits to the environment.“Moving bits, not atoms” (as NicholasNegroponte put it in his seminal 1995work, Being Digital) avoids much of theenvironmental impact associated with theproduction, packaging, distribution, anddisposal of objects. And products that areessentially information are rapidly movinginto the digital world—a phenomenonknown as “dematerialization.”

Many forms of information are beingdematerialized, collectively helping to atleast slow the ongoing increase in theconsumption of paper—an increase from84.9 million tons in 1990 to 97.3 milliontons in 2002. Catalogs, promotionalmaterials, manuals, telephone books,bills, checks, taxes, tickets, photographs,and letters are all rapidly entering thedigital realm, saving not only paper andrelated materials but also storage space,transportation costs, and waste, whileadding significantly to business efficiencyand productivity.

In the 1999 report The InternetEconomy and Global Warming: A Scenarioof the Impact of E-commerce on Energy andthe Environment , the Annandale,Virginia–based nonprofit Center forEnergy & Climate Solutions (CECS) pre-dicted that the Internet could save 2.7million tons of paper every year by 2003,equaling a reduction of 10 million tons ofcarbon dioxide emissions, and that bothfigures could double by 2008. Sustain-ability at the Speed of Light: Opportunitiesand Challenges for Tomorrow’s Society, a2002 report by WWF Sweden on the roleof ICT in sustainable development, citesmany other examples of savings: Ciscosaved an estimated $50 million per yearstoring its product and pricing informationon the Internet. AT&T cut annual paperconsumption by more than 400 tons bychanging from a 1,500-page paper person-nel manual to an online resource. Ericssonis realizing enormous cost and paperworksavings by instituting an automated pro-curement system. PriceWaterhouseCooperspredicts that by 2004, more than 13% of allconsumer bills in the United States will bepresented and paid electronically. And theUniversal Postal Union predicts that e-mail will replace 12% of business-to-busi-ness mail and 5% of business-to-consumermail in Western Europe and NorthAmerica by 2005. Besides the paper saved,

the transportation needed to send thesepieces of paper through the mail alsomight be expected to decrease.

Other transportation savings are beingrealized in traffic-saturated cities such asTokyo, Paris, and San Francisco, whereurban dwellers are now able to exchangethe expense, inefficiency, and environ-mental impact of automobile ownershipfor the service of as-needed access to a car,thanks to an Internet-enabled conceptcalled “car-sharing.” The San Franciscononprofit City CarShare seeks to reduceprivate car ownership and usage in thecity by allowing residents to reserve ashared car through an Internet systemthat locates available cars and issues dri-vers electronic keys. Thanks to a recentgrant, City CarShare now even offersaccess to 10 eco-friendly electric vehiclesfor short nonhighway trips. The organiza-tion hopes that its car-sharing and electricvehicle program will contribute to areduction in air pollution in the SanFrancisco area.

Even the appliances in the digitalhousehold may soon become more envi-ronmentally efficient by being “servi-cized.” Merloni Elettrodomestici, a largeItalian appliance manufacturer, andSweden-based Electrolux, the world’slargest appliance manufacturer, are testingthe concept of pay-per-use laundry usingstate-of-the-art washers with sensors thatoptimize the length of the wash cycle andthe amount of water used. Consumers payonly for the service of doing their laun-dry; they do so in their home but withoutowning the equipment. The companymonitors energy use, maintains themachines, and recycles or refurbishesthem when they are no longer operatingat optimum efficiency: after 4–5 years.Families save money, and the overall envi-ronmental impact of clothes washing—90% of which comes from actual washeruse, according to Sustainability at theSpeed of Light—is substantially reduced.

Un-building and Un-travelingAccording to The Internet Economy andGlobal Warming, by 2007 the combinedeffects of business-to-business and busi-ness-to-consumer e-commerce in theUnited States could obviate the need for1.5 billion square feet of retail space, 1 bil-lion square feet of warehouse space, and asmuch as 2 billion square feet of commer-cial office space—the equivalent of almost450 Sears Towers. The environmentalbenefits of this “un-building” could be dra-matic. The CECS estimates that each yearenergy savings and avoided constructionwould save the equivalent of 31 average

power plants’ outputs and 67 billion cubicfeet of natural gas, and would prevent therelease of 75 million metric tons of green-house gases.

“Telework,” people working fromhome or in virtual offices, is one of theICT-related activities contributing to un-building, with the added environmentalbenefit of reductions in commuting.According to Joseph Romm, CECS exec-utive director and former acting assistantsecretary of energy efficiency and renew-able energy at the U.S. Department ofEnergy, “the single biggest piece of under-utilized infrastructure in the U.S. econo-my is American homes when peoplearen’t in them.” He adds, “Clearly, if peo-ple can work out of their homes, and thatdisplaces the need to build an officebuilding, that’s a very significant saving inenergy and resources.” Large organiza-tions are increasingly recognizing thattelework can no longer be considered justan employee perk or an alternative workarrangement, but rather can be a produc-tive and profitable element of their busi-ness model.

However, some recent studies haveshown that many people find the work-place less stressful than the home when itcomes to actually working, and harborconcerns about the possible negativeimpact on their careers when they rarelysee their superiors and coworkers in per-son. There is also some disagreementamong experts about the extent of theenvironmental savings from telework.Although automobile commuting and thedemand for office space are lower,increases in personal travel and homeoffice use may diminish the overall envi-ronmental benefits generated by telework.

Telework also contributes to “un-trav-eling”—the use of ICT to replace busi-ness travel. In this instance, however, thepromise of ICT to contribute to sustain-abil ity is as yet largely unrealized.Although the technology to conductremote meetings exists, and has for sometime, it is still relatively immature andthus unlikely to have a major impact inthe near term, according to Sustainabilityat the Speed of Light. The use of videocon-ferencing, audioconferencing, webconfer-encing, and computer collaboration toreplace business travel is growing, butbarriers to its widespread proliferationremain. Many people still prefer to meetface-to-face, are uncomfortable or dissat-isfied with the technology, and do not yetperceive its use as part of a corporate cul-ture supporting sustainability. The tech-nology is improving, however, and travelcosts are rising, so it appears probable that


Innovations | Connecting to a Sustainable Future

the use of virtual meetings will graduallyincrease, as will the environmental divi-dends they promise.

The Meta-NetworkThe Internet is in the process of becomingpart of a pervasive computational fabric, aworldwide “meta-network” ofdevices capable of doing agreat deal of energy-savingwork autonomously throughmillions of connections tominiscule pumps, actuators,and sensors. It has been pre-dicted that within just 10 yearsmore things than people will beusing the Internet. MichaelMayer, head of IBM PervasiveComputing, is quoted in the22 April 2001 issue of TheNew York Times Magazine asasserting that this “smartfuture” will include more andmore machines talking tomachines—our refrigerators,our cars, our tools, our clothes,and other items performingmicroelements of tasks with-out human intervention.

Even today, only 2% ofthe 8 billion microprocessorsproduced this year will endup in computers, according to DavidRejeski, a resident scholar at theWoodrow Wilson International Centerfor Scholars in Washington, D.C., andJohn Seely Brown, former director ofXerox PARC, writing in the 18 December2000 issue of The Industry Standard. Theother 98%, they write, “will be embeddedin the world around us.” They furtherwrite that as these countless little units ofintelligence “become increasingly inter-connected—with each other, the Internet,and the physical world—they will formthe technological foundation of the nextenvironmental revolution.”

Rejeski says the meta-network willbring substantial environmental benefits:“The largest long-term potential gamechanger for the environment is the ‘con-vergence of networks’ that will happenwhen we overlay pervasive informationnetworks on other networks such as ourenergy grids, transportation system, watersupply system, et cetera. This will openup new possibilities for the understand-ing, micromanagement, and optimizationof complex networks, with large environ-mental impacts.”

Writing in Sustainability at the Speedof Light, Rejeski says that ICT will enablecomplex data systems of a scope previ-ously impossible. The sheer size of the

individual component systems that mightcomprise such a meta-network—forexample, agroecological systems, powerdistribution systems, oceans, urban traffic,water- and airsheds, and logistics sys-tems—implies inherently large environ-mental impacts in terms of streamlining

research and applying solu-tions. “Suddenly,” he writes,“systems that have been toolarge and expensive to instru-ment become tractable tar-gets for scientific inquiry.”

Life Cycle Managementof ObjectsBefore the end of thisdecade, there wil l be an“Internet of things.” TheAuto-ID Center, a partner-ship of almost 100 globalcompanies and 5 of theworld’s leading research uni-versit ies, is developing aglobal infrastructure that willallow computers to identifyany object anywhere in the

world instantly, through the use of radio-frequency identification tags. Every prod-uct, and even individual parts, will haveits own unique identity (an “electronicproduct code,” or ePC) burned onto atiny microchip equipped with an antenna.

A global computer network, layeredon top of the Internet, has been devel-oped to coordinate and process themountains of information this system willgenerate. For business, radio-frequencyidentification tags will revolutionize man-agement of the supply chain, eliminatingall guesswork from inventory control,allowing precise fulfillment of demand,and facilitating optimized cradle-to-grave

tracking of products, including recyclingand refurbishment. Observers are opti-mistic that the system will generate sub-stantial environmental benefits as well.Obviously, massive potential gains in effi-ciency could eventually translate intomassive energy savings.

Rejeski adds, however, that theprocess of connecting environmentalinformation to the objects in the producttagging system is not a given, and willonly come about as a result of proactivework on the part of the policy communitywith the business sectors implementingthe tagging systems. Without the additionof this information, the environmentalbenefits that can be expected from it willbe limited to absolute increases in logis-tics efficiency.

Digital markers are already in use on amuch smaller scale by conservationgroups and researchers to gather informa-tion about the activities of a wide varietyof animals, including endangered species.A passive integrated transponder tag isinjected under an animal’s skin, allowingits movements to be tracked by antennasystems over a wide area. The data arecollected and entered into databases inreal time via the Internet, giving biolo-gists a valuable new tool in efforts tounderstand the animals and preserve theiroften fragile habitats.

ICT is also even now enabling drasticreductions in inventories, and increases inrecycling and reselling of waste materialsand products. The Home Depot uses ICTsystems to almost completely eliminatethe need for warehousing; 85% of itsproducts are shipped directly from manu-facturers to stores, resulting in significantsavings in energy, transportation, andland use—and enviable profit margins.The Internet has spawned a huge busi-ness-to-business marketplace in industrialsecondary materials. With the widenedaudience afforded by the Internet, manycompanies have found the online resellingof unwanted or surplus components andproducts to be an important new sourceof revenue, while the environment hasbenefited from concomitant reductions inwaste disposal and landfill pressure.

Web-Based MicromanagementThe ability to micromanage energy usagethrough Internet-enabled communicationnetworks has already been rolled out inpilot form. Digital intelligence allowingthe remote monitoring and control ofdevices can maximize efficiency.

For example, the Long Island PowerAuthority (LIPA), through its LIPAedgeprogram, allows both the utility and its



Automated environment. Technologiesincluding microchips and identification tagswith barcodes may someday automate manyprocesses, thereby saving energy and reduc-ing waste.

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customers to remotely control digitalthermostats on central air conditioners viaan Internet-based system. This enablesLIPA to temporarily adjust the tempera-ture or compressor operation of thou-sands of units during peak summerdemand hours, saving substantial load onthe system. LIPAedge operators can alsoremotely program the thermostat forhomeowners without Internet access.

The system works through telephonelines; the thermostat itself has a web-linked chip in it that allows it to receivecode and be adjusted or preprogrammed.As of March 2003, there had been 22,000installations. The company estimates thatwhen the program is fully implemented,30,000 customers will be enrolled, savingup to 30 megawatts of summer peakdemand—the equivalent of an additionalturbine generator. LIPA also estimatesthat customers wil l be able to save10–15% of their energy costs by fine-tun-ing their air conditioning use with theprogrammable thermostats and by beingable to adjust them from locations outsidethe home.

The electricity industry itself recog-nizes the possibilities of the next wave ofdigital intelligence. In 1999, the ElectricPower Research Institute (EPRI), a non-profit industry-supported think tankbased in Palo Alto, California, publishedthe Electricity Technology Roadmap, a callto action that predicts that “the transfor-mation of the traditional power supplynetwork [i.e., the grid] into a truly cus-tomer-managed service network. Whenelectrons are integrated with real-timeinformation, customers can build cus-tomized services that are tailored to theirparticular needs.”

EPRI dubs these services “intel-lectrics,” and speculates that an eventualfull proliferation of such innovations inthe United States could halve energyintensity (that is, energy consumed perdollar of gross domestic product, a keyindicator of energy trends), great lyreduce waste output (as the waste fromone process becomes the feedstock of thenext), and, startlingly, add at least a tril-l ion dollars a year to the U.S. grossdomestic product thanks to increasedproductivity and efficiency.

In the near future, perhaps intel-lectrics can be used to efficiently power“domotics”—the smart appliances in thedigital household. Merloni has engineereda line of smart refrigerators, washingmachines, ovens, and dishwashersdesigned to be remotely micromanaged

for optimal power efficiency, again byboth the user and the utility. These inter-active devices call on the power of theePC to help them work their magic.

For example, with every item of foodhaving its own digital identification tag,including when the item was made andpurchased, the fridge will be able to readthe tags wirelessly as items are put in orremoved. According to a Merloni pressrelease, the interactive display on the appli-ance “will indicate what food it contains,the optimum preservationtemperature, best-beforedates, descriptions of foodand its nutrition data, aswell as recipes that can beprepared using the availablefood.” Other appliances can

sense how dirty your dishes are and adjustaccordingly, display recipes you’ve down-loaded directly into the oven (which is alsocapable of cleaning itself automatically),and alert you to remove that white T-shirtyou inadvertently threw in with a load ofcolored clothes.

Mass CustomizationMass customization may sound like anoxymoron, but as the Internet continuesto proliferate and more companies learnhow to take advantage of direct contactwith their customers, the concept maybecome a key organizing principle ofbusiness in the years to come. It couldalso become a key driver of sustainability,through environmental benefits such as

production, storage, and transportationenergy savings; reduced use of materialsby precisely matching demand with pro-duction; and reduced waste by obviatingthe need for elaborate packaging andeliminating production overruns. How-ever, unless customers are provided withthe appropriate information about theenvironmental impact of their buyingdecisions, such as the additional energyuse required to ship their individual ordervia overnight service, the benefits of mass

customization maybe compromised.

Right now, Dellwill build a computersystem to customerspecifications, com-municated online,allowing the compa-ny to trim invento-ries of components

that quickly become obsolete in this ever-changing industry. McGraw-Hill’s PrimisCustom Publishing offers textbook pub-lishing on demand on the Internet, allow-ing faculty to customize their textbooksaccording to their specific needs, choosingfrom thousands of available chapters anddocuments. ChemStation International ofDayton, Ohio, has established a nationalnetwork for customized production anddistribution of industrial cleaning chemi-cals. The company custom-formulatesenvironmentally friendly products accord-ing to the needs of individual customers,and through computerized monitoring,delivers just enough of the materials just intime to company-maintained refillabletanks on the customers’ premises. Thecompany does all the handling, with itsown trained personnel and special lydesigned dispensers. So, aside from theeconomies involved, the system enhancesemployee safety, reduces chemical wasteand the possibility of spills, and eradicatesdrum handling and disposal at the site. Itis likely that this type of mass customiza-tion will be available in the near future tousers of pesticides and other toxic, envi-ronmentally sensitive materials.

Guarded OptimismWhether the marvels of ICT innovationwill succeed in ushering in a new era of sus-tainable development remains to be seen,of course. Certainly, ICT cannot be seen asa panacea for the world’s many dramaticimbalances. It seems safe even now, howev-er, to predict that ICT will contribute sig-nificantly to efforts to accomplish the goalof sustainability.

Wash of the future? Merloni’s “smart”clothes washer can be remotely micromanagedfor optimum efficiency.

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Experts express guarded optimism, alongwith a healthy dose of skepticism regardingthe motivations and dedication of the prima-ry actors in the global marketplace. AsSustainability at the Speed of Light editorDennis Pamlin concludes in that report, “Apositive outcome for humanity and for theEarth depends on decisions made today.Before the end of the first decade of thisthird millennium, we will be able to see

whether ICT’s applications have come to bedominated by sustainability, or whether theyare primarily driven by influential groups fortheir own short term benefit. . . . We havethe tools in front of us, we have theresources, and we understand the challengesand the opportunities. The question iswhether a sufficient number of individualsthat have the possibility to influence thedevelopment of ICT will dare to go beyond

their current roles and have the courage totake innovative initiatives.”

ICT is, of course, simply a tool. Likeany tool, it can be used for good or ill,depending on the motivation of the user.For ICT to become a prime contributor tothe accomplishment of sustainable develop-ment will require active involvement bypeople motivated to achieve it. “Very few ofthe gains described [in Sustainability at theSpeed of Light] will just happen withoutsome serious and proactive work by theenvironmental policy community,” saysPamlin. “Above all, we need much moreresearch done to assess the potential impactsof ICT on the environment and inform thepolicy-making process.”

Rejeski expresses much the same senti-ment: “Whether ICT has positive or negativeimpacts on the environment is often depen-dent on a wide range of variables, many ofwhich may be hard to predict a priori oraddress with traditional environmental poli-cy approaches. . . . Public sector policies andtargeted business strategies may be veryimportant in securing such public goods asnew information technologies emerge.”

Ernie Hood

Sugge s t ed Read ingCohen N. 1999. Greening the Internet: ten ways e-commerce could affect the environ-

ment and what we can do. iMP: The Magazine on Information Impacts. October.Available: http://www.cisp.org/imp/october_99/10_99cohen.htm [accessed 23 May2003].

E-commerce, the Internet, and the environment [special issue]. 2003. J Ind Ecol 6(2).

Global e-Sustainability Initiative. 2002. Industry as a Partner for SustainableDevelopment: Information and Communications Technology. Paris, France:UnitedNations Environment Programme. Available: http://www.uneptie.org/outreach/wssd/docs/sectors/final/ICT.pdf [accessed 23 May 2003].

Romm J. 1999. The Internet Economy and Global Warming. Annandale, VA: Centerfor Energy & Climate Solutions. Available: http://www.cool-companies.org/energy/paper1.cfm [accessed 23 May 2003].

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