Innovation in ICT for mitigating Environmental Challenges

D. Vasudevan

Defining Sustainability

• Intergenerational equity—development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

• that development does not endanger the natural systems that support life on Earth: the atmosphere, the waters, the soils and the living beings

• consumption standards that are within the bounds of the ecologically possible and to which all can reasonably aspire

Sustainability & Development

• Sustainable development was broadly endorsed by the 1992 Earth Summit with the following three pillars of equal significance:

1. economic prosperity

2. social equity

3. environmental protection

Major Environmental Challenges

• loss of diversity• resource depletion • climate change • greenhouse gas emissions

How ICT is transforming World

• Information and communication technology (ICT) is facilitating the flow of information between governments and the public

• ICTs and innovative applications are promoting knowledge exchange, technical cooperation and capacity building for sustainable development

• Access to information, technical knowledge, and know-how, through ICTs empower farmers, fishers, and foresters to choose among diverse methods of achieving sustainable agricultural production

• In education, more effective use of information and communication technologies is enhancing learning outcomes

How ICT is enabling sustainability

• Today ICT has very much altered the underlying structures of social and economic development that sustainability needs to address.

Smart Systems

ICTs offer the potential to enable large-scale reductions in carbon emissions through what are called “smart systems,” particularly in energy production and distribution, manufacturing, transport, construction and building management.

Global e-Sustainability Initiative says

“ICT-enabled solutions offer the potential to reduce

GHG emissions by 16.5%, create 29.5 million jobs and

yield USD 1.9 trillion in savings”

ICT’s Abatement Potential

Power

ICT adoption in the power sector could yield 2.0 GtCO2e in abatement (or 22% of total estimated abatement total) by playing a critical role in the creation of a more dynamic power market with supply and pricing responding to changes in demand.

GtCO2e: Gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent or say a billion metric ton

Transportation

• Emissions reductions in transportation could reach 1.9 GtCO2e (21% of total). Increased efficiency in cargo transit through improved logistics networks and fleet management represents a significant abatement opportunity.

• Telecommuting and increased use of video conferencing can reduce transportation needs and emissions.

Agriculture and Land use

• Emissions reductions from this sector could reach 1.6 GtCO2e (18% of total).

• As the inputs required to grow crops emit large quantities of emissions, ICT that allows farmers to accurately assess how much to irrigate and fertilize their crops will lead to emissions abatement.

• Systems that reduce the amount of land required to raise livestock and reduce their methane emissions also have significant abatement potential.

• Also, monitoring equipment can help governments prevent the destruction of rainforests that act as carbon sinks.

Buildings

• ICT can abate 1.6 GtCO2e (18% of total) in this sector by providing occupants with the systems required to support the generation of renewable energy and incorporate it into the building’s power supply.

• Smart design can reduce lighting and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning needs while building management systems ensure that those systems are used efficiently

Manufacturing

• ICT-enabled efficiency in factories and other manufacturing applications could allow for 1.2 GtCO2e (13% of total) in abatement from the manufacturing sector.

• Through solutions that, for example, better control a motor system to better match its power usage to a required output, there are many opportunities for ICT to make manufacturing more efficient.

Consumer and service

• Emissions reductions through ICT in the consumer and service sector could reach 0.7 GtCO2e (8% of total).

• ICT connects consumers to merchants via the Internet and enables them to purchase goods online rather than physically traveling to the store.

• ICT-enabled software can also develop packaging that generates less waste and conserves resources.

Cloud Computing• A company that adopts cloud computing can

reduce its energy consumption, lower its carbon emissions and decrease its capital expenditure on IT resources while improving operational efficiency.

• By 2020, it is estimated that large US companies that use cloud computing can achieve annual energy savings of $12.3 billion and annual carbon reductions equivalent to 200 million barrels of oil.

• A 100-person company with applications deployed in the cloud can reduce energy consumption and emissions by more than 90 percent says WSP Energy & Environment Study

Source: Carbon Disclosure Project Supported by AT&T

ICT’s contribution versus Abatement potential• While ICT’s own footprint is projected to

rise to 1.27 GtCO2e by 2020, its abatement potential is seven times higher

References & Acknowledgements

• Proceedings of the first International Conference on ICT 4 Sustainability held at ETH Zurich on February 14-16, 2013: www.ict4s.org

• GeSi Smarter 2020 – Executive Summary Report by Global e-Sustainability Initiative and The Boston Consulting Group, Inc. in 12/2012

• http://www.forbes.com/sites/joemckendrick/2011/10/03/cloud-computings-hidden-green-benefits/

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GtCO2e

• International Energy Agency: http://www.iea.org/

• http://www.sustainability-perspectives.com/perspective/ict-power

Thanks…

dvasudevan@albionglobal.com