InternationalTelecommunicationUnion

Measuring the ICT impact on Climate Change

Keith DickersonChairman SG5 WP3 ICT &

Climate Change

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2

Introduction

Background What has ITU-T done? How do we measure the impact of

ICTs on Climate Change? What is ITU-T going to do in the

future?

ITU-T timeline for ICTs and Climate Change

December 2007: ITU Technology Watch report to TSAG on ICTs & CC

July 2008: TSAG set up Focus Group to investigate ICTs & CC open to ITU non-members 4 deliverables including methodology

October 2008: WTSA resolution on ICTs & CC April 2009: FG ICTs & CC report to TSAG May 2009: SG5 renamed “Environment & Climate

Change” and sets up: WP3 on ICT & CC JCA on ICT & CC

ITU-T FG ICTs & CC Deliverables

D1 Definitions Defined key metrics

D2 Gap analysis and Standards Roadmap Reviewed activities concerning ICT and climate change

inside and outside ITU Identified Gaps and Issues for Future Work

D3 Methodologies to calculate carbon footprint ICT devices’ own emissions (embodied and in-use) Mitigations in other sectors using ICTs

D4 Direct and Indirect Impact of ITU Standards Identified key activities inside ITU-T and ITU-R Questionnaire sent to ITU-T and ITU-R SGs identified what

was going on

- Reduction of ICT’s own emissions over their entire lifecycle (direct impact)

=> Power reduction methods

- Mitigation that follows through the adoption of ICTs in other relevant sectors (indirect impact)

=> CO2 saving calculation methods

Internationally agreed common methodology for measuring the following impacts of ICTs on climate change:

Goal of Deliverable 3 Methodologies

Scope of Deliverable 3 Methodologies

To include: a calculation methodology of energy consumption

saved through ICT utilization; the definition of basic units relevant to the cases

considered; the identification, gathering and processing of

relevant parameters (e.g. user behavior); the principles and tools to measure and evaluate the

results; a list of examples of the uses of how ICTs can

replace or displace other energy-consuming technologies/uses;

analysis of existing standards and a proposal for development of new standards, if needed.

Relevant metrics and Units

Power unit: 1 W = 1 kg m2 s-3

Energy unit: 1 J = 1 W.s 1 kWh = 3,600,000 J Mass unit: 1 kg or 1 t = 1,000 kg Volume unit: 1 m3 = 1,000 L

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) = 1 CO2e Methane (CH4) = 25 CO2e Nitrous Oxide (N2O) = 298 CO2e Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6) = 22,800 CO2e HFC-23 (CHF3) = 14,800 CO2e

Global warming Potential (GWP)

Metric System

Direct Emissions– CO2 intensity

(1) Calculate energy consumption reduction through the use of ICTs

(2) Convert into CO2 emissions reduction

Use CO2 emission intensity reflecting the situation in each country.

Impact of own GHG emissions

LCA require to set Functional Unit System boundary Allocation procedure

LAN switch

Router

LAN switch

Router

DSU

Subscriber module DSLAM OLT

ONUADSL modem

PC PC PC

Access network equipment

Subscriber station

Transfer facility

Internet Service Provider

ISDN ADSL FTTH

Boundary for evaluation

Metallic cable Metallic cable Optical cable

LAN switch

Router

LAN switch

Router

DSU

Subscriber module DSLAM OLT

ONUADSL modem

PCPC PCPC PCPC

Access network equipment

Subscriber station

Transfer facility

Internet Service Provider

ISDN ADSL FTTH

Boundary for evaluation

Metallic cable Metallic cable Optical cable

Case study: LCA of Wired NetworkCase study: LCA of Wired Network

-20.0

0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

120.0

ISDN ADSL FTTHCO

2 em

issi

ons

[kg-

CO

2/ye

ar/s

ubsc

ribe

r]

Disposal/recycling

Use

Production

Recovery by recycling

Impact of own GHG emissions

LCA require to set Functional Unit System boundary Allocation procedure

Case study: LCA of Wireless NetworkCase study: LCA of Wireless Network

LS GS TS GS LS

BSMS

CiRCUS

Voice call / videophone

Email

Core network

Tokyo NiigataWPCGWPCG

BS MS

LS GS TS GS LS

BSMS

CiRCUS

Voice call / videophone

Email

Core network

Tokyo NiigataWPCGWPCG

BS MS

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

CO

2 em

issi

ons

[kg-

CO

2/ye

ar/s

ubsc

ribe

r] Use

Production

Disposal/ recycling

-0.1

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

Ene

rgy

cons

umpt

ion[

GJ/

year

/sub

scri

ber]

Use

Production

Disposal/ recycling

Mitigation- Impact on other sectors

Dematerialisation to reduce energy in production of goods (paper, CDs, DVDs, etc.)

Efficient use of power (e.g. standby modes, load shifting) Travel avoidance to reduce energy in movement of people

(cars, buses, rail, aircraft, etc.) via teleconferencing, etc Process optimisation to improve energy efficiency in

movement of goods (mail, trucks, rail cargo, cargo ships, etc.) Improved efficiency in use of office space (electricity, office

area, etc.) reduces the need for heating lighting, etc (e.g. hot desking)

Reduced storage of goods, e.g. in the ‘just in time’ supply chain to save warehouse lighting and heating

Improved work efficiency (workload etc.) e.g. streamlining processes and online training

Waste avoidance and efficient recycling

Impact on other sectors- Teleworking

Typical CO2 emissions per unit area of office space

Japan USA

Video conference held between Tokyo and Yokohama, once a week (48 times / year), one hour each time, participated in by two people from each office

Video conference held between Tokyo and Yokohama, every working day (240 times / year), eight hours each time, participated in by two people from each office

Evaluation Result

0

5

10

15

20

25

Conference on a trip Video conferenceEner

gy C

onsu

mpt

ion(

GJ/

year

)

DisposalUseProduction

Evaluation Result

0.00.51.01.52.02.53.03.54.04.5

Conference on a trip Video conferenceEner

gy C

onsu

mpt

ion(

GJ/

year

)

DisposalUseProduction

Reduction of 53% Reduction of 52%

Impact on other sectors- Videoconferencing

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Conventional wisdom “Substituting kilobits for kilograms cuts down

carbon emissions…” Obviously, this is an area in which ICT has a

critical role to play Reducing travel (of goods and people) is

always beneficial This is generally true but… Some projections about the resulting carbon

savings are greatly exaggerated Average commuting distance is often overestimated

(and sometimes attributed to car travel only) The increase in domestic energy use incurred by

teleworking is usually not factored in

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Domestic carbon footprint Teleworking increases domestic energy

consumption Flexible workers estimate that their

home is occupied an average 21hrs/week more when they telework

This is an (optimistic) >12.5% increase Yearly energy usage of an average UK

household (source: OFGEM):3300 kWh (Electricity) 400 kWh extra20500 kWh (Gas) 2500 kWh extra

Net result

16Conversion factors for the UK: DEFRA (2008)

Preliminary conclusions Teleworking is definitely and provably

beneficial Most businesses will substantially reduce

their carbon footprint by encouraging it However, looking at the big picture, it

becomes obvious that:Linear extrapolation leads to overoptimistic

projectionsAccompaniment measures will make a big

difference (e.g. “educating” home-workers)Secondary optimisation is needed to

maximise impact

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Secondary optimisation The increase in domestic CO2 emissions can

be more than offset by scaling down office space One of the least controversial “green”

propositions Potentially huge savings on utility bills and/or

rental costs But there are obstacles

“Discretisation”: until you can power down a room, floor, building or site you’ve gained nothing!

Semi-flexible workers means this is often impractical

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Further work in ITU-T SG5

Q. # Title Rapporteur

17/5 Coordination and Planning of ICT&CC related standardization

Paolo GemmaAssociate: Franz Zichy

18/5 Methodology of environmental impact assessment of ICT

Jean-Manuel CanetAssociate: Takafumi Hashitani

19/5 Power feeding systems Ms Kaoru AsakuraActing associate: Didier Marquet

20/5 Data Collection for Energy Efficiency for ICTs over the lifecycle

Gilbert ButyAssociate: Dave Faulkner

21/5 Environmental protection and recycling of ICT equipments/facilities

Didier Marquet; Júlio Cesar FonsecaAssociate: Ms Xia Zhang, Paulo Curado

Chairman WP3: Mr. Keith Dickerson (BT, UK), Vice chairs: Ms Eunsook Kim (Korea) and Mr. Takeshi Origuchi (NTT, Japan)