WSIS PrepCom1 Aebischer 4 7 02

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Environmental Impacts of ICT Direct Impacts Bernard Aebischer Centre for Energy Policy and Economics (CEPE) Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETHZ) www.cepe.ethz.ch

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Content Electricity consumption Electricity per capita Environmental impact over the life cycle Energy consumption and CO2 emissions Future electricity demand

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1. Electricity Consumption (1) Computer, office equipment, entertainment + Internet, telecom Non-residential in the USA (Roth, 2001): 3% of total electricity USA Residential and non-residential in Switzerland: 5% of total electricity (Aebischer, 2000) 85% of all chips not in computer- and telecom-equipment  ICT 10% of total electricity in Switzerland (Aebischer, 2000)

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1. Electricity Consumption (2) Microprocessors et al. (controlling, regulation in all kinds of equipment, e.g. cars, and in processes) One large power station: 1000 MW, 8 TWh/a

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2. Electricity Consumption per Capita (1) USA: 14 MWh/cap (5-10% ICT -> 0.7-1.4 MWh/cap) Switzerland: 7 MWh/cap (10% ICT -> 0.7 MWh/cap) World: 2.5 MWh/cap China: 1 MWh/cap India, Africa: 0.5 MWh/cap Reliability of electricity supply is essential!

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2. Electricity Consumption per Capita (2)

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3. Environmental impact over the life cycle Energy for manufacturing/distribution: +50% (not 500%) (Spalinger, 2000; Margni et al., 2001; Hilty et al., 2001; Socolof et al., 2001) Pollution and toxic waste in manufacturing and recycling/disposal: chip production, batteries (mobile, pervasive computing) at end of life (Hilty et al., 2001)

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4. Energy Consumption and CO2 Emissions 2-3 units of primary energy (2/3 fossil fuels) to produce 1 unit of electricity 30% of CO2 emissions from electricity production 1-4% of global energy-induced CO2 emissions from energy consumption by ICT

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5. Future Electricity Demand of ICT (1) Efficiency improvements versus diffusion, capacity and intensity of use Specific electricity consumption: reduction by a factor 100 in 10 years If reduction only half as fast, then ICT in Switzerland ten times electricity produced worldwide  diffusion  efficiency improvement faster than increase in capacity and intensity of use

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5. Future Electricity Demand of ICT (2) But, electricity consumption of ICT is increasing (in OECD countries fastest segment) due to Diffusion Increase in capacity: processors 10 W -> 30 W -> 100W (?) and increase in intensity of use (24/7) New fields of application, e.g. fully automated household with < 30% increase of residential electricity (Aebischer and Varone, 2001)

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5. Future Electricity Demand of ICT (3) But, important saving potentials Standby losses: 5-10% of residential electricity consumption (Bertoldi et al., 2002) Power supplies: 50% losses (?) (Aebischer/Huser, 2002) Energy efficient technologies, e.g. laptop computers, LCD-screens, innovative chip architectures, hardware->software (Transmeta)

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Literature (1) Roth K.W. et al.: Energy Consumption by Office and telecommunications Equipment in Commercial Buildings. Volume I: Energy Consumption Baseline. Arthur D. Little, Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA, 2002 Aebischer B. et al.: Energie und Informationstechnik. Energiesparer oder Energiefresser? Bulletin. Magazin der ETH Zürich, Nr. 216 Januar 2000 Varone F. and Aebischer B.: Energy efficiency: the challenges of policy design. Energy Policy 29 (2001) 615-629 Bertoldi P., Aebischer B. et al.: Standby Power Use: How Big is the Problem? What Policies and Technical Solutions Can Address It? Proceedings “ACEEE Summer Study 2002” (to be published in August 2002) Aebischer, B., Varone, F., The Internet: the most important driver for future electricity demand in households. In: Proceedings of the 2001 eceee Summer Study "Further than ever from Kyoto: Rethinking energy efficiency can get us there", Vol. I, pp. 394-403 (original study: http://www.electricity-research.ch/SB/haushaltsvernetzung-00-english.PDF) Aebischer B. and Huser A.: Energy Efficiency of Power Supplies between 100 and 1000 Watt Nominal Load (work in progress)

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Literature (2) Socolof M.L. et al.: Desktop Computer Displays: A Life-Cycle Assessment. US EPA-744-R-01-004a, Washington, 2001 Margni M., Jolliet O. and Baumgartner Th. (Org.): Environmental Impact of Telecommunication System and Services. 13th Discussion Forum on Life Cycle Assessment EPF Lausanne, 25 April 2001 Spalinger R.: Kumulierter Energieverbrauch eines PC. Mercato Technik. Infel, Zürich, Juli 2000 Hilty L.M. and Gilgen P.W. (Eds.): Sustainability in the Information Society. 15th International Symposium Informatics for Environmental Protection, Zurich 2001 Berkhout F. and Hertin J.: Impacts of Information and Communication Technologies on Environmental Sustainability: speculations and evidence. Report to the OECD, 2001 Heiskanen E. et al.: Dematerialisation: The Potential of ICT and Services.Ministery of the Environment, Helsinki,2001 Aebischer B. et al.: Energy Efficiency Indicator for High Electric-Load Buildings. The Case of Data Centres. "IEECB 2002. 2nd International Conference on Improving Electricity Efficiency in Commercial Buildings„ Nice, 27-29 mai 2002