Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Energy Efficiency

To establish an effective policy, it is crucial to assess both the direct impact of the ICT sector across its life cycle (primary effect) and the potential of ICT-based technologies to enhance energy efficiency (secondary and tertiary effects) in the European economy. The study in (Beton, et al., 2008) examined the impacts of ICTs on Energy Efficiency in Europe from 2005 to 2020 analysing primary, secondary (i.e., application of the ICT in other sectors causing indirect impact on the environment) and tertiary effects (i.e., macro-level indirect effects resulting from structural and behavioural changes and adaptation to the ICT services as part of everyday life and business).  The analysis assessed the total electricity consumption of ICT equipment during the “use phase” for both end-user devices and the ICT infrastructure. The “end of life phase” and “production phase was also investigated. 

The study revealed that a significant increase in the CO₂ footprint of the ICT sector is caused by the increase in the stock of ICT appliances and network infrastructure, despite the development of energy efficient technologies and the miniaturisation of ICT devices encouraged by market forces. It is worth noticing that these results used a conversion factor (i.e., to convert energy to CO₂e) of 0.4582 kg CO₂e/KWh constant over the period which overestimates the CO₂e. 

In their analysis, the Business-as-Usual (BAUS) scenario projects an increasing impact on energy consumption for ICT devices and infrastructure if no actions are taken. In contrast, the Eco-scenario envisions a more optimistic outcome, with higher adoption of energy-efficient (EE) devices and supportive policy and voluntary measures promoting the use of EE ICT devices. 

Voluntary measures are considered to be more beneficial than mandatory requirements in the ICT fast-moving sector, since they are more flexible and can be put in place rapidly (e.g., Energy star and Eco Label).