Broadband technology holds tremendous potential for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by allowing people to replace carbon-intensive activities like air travel with carbon-neutral alternatives like telework.  On July 9, I had the opportunity to discuss these possibilities with Capitol Hill staff at an educational roundtable hosted by Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA) and the Center for American Progress Action Fund.  

 

Rep. Solis lead off the briefing by observing that increasing gas prices and overall energy costs underscore the need to rethink the role of information and communications technology (ICT) as part of energy and climate change policy. The potential associated with the implementation of ICT demonstrates that it is possible to address energy dependency and climate change while growing the economy. But, we must also address the life-cycle of these technologies and ensure that as we move to more energy efficient technologies that communities can properly reuse and dispose of materials.

 

Along with presenters from Cisco and Gridpoint, I discussed the remarkable decreases in emissions we have already seen from broadband use – and where we can expect the technology to take us in the coming years. 

 

Numerous studies have documented how broadband transforms the relationship between productivity and energy, enabling more economic value to be generated with less power.  A recent study by the Global eSustainability Initiative (GeSI) projects that ICT can reduce global carbon emissions by 15% by 2020. Indeed, economists estimate that in the last 10 years, the use of networked computers and devices has already displaced 6-10% of the emissions that otherwise would have been generated, more than offsetting the 2% of emissions that were emitted in order to power and use that equipment.

 

How is this possible?  One example we discussed is telework – a dramatically advanced version of what we used to think of as “telecommuting.”  By allowing teleworkers access to real-time, virtual face-to-face communication, broadband makes it possible to avoid the long-distance travel that is commonplace in government and business.  Cisco demonstrated one example of telework’s possibilities: its innovative Telepresence system, which is built on a broadband network and allows those who use it to “travel” virtually anywhere in the world.  This is a truly exciting direction in which to be headed.

 

Here’s another and perhaps not-so-obvious example of how broadband has already begun to reduce emissions. Consider the familiar phenomenon of downloading music.  According to the American Consumer Institute, more than 6.5 billion fewer miles were driven to and from record stores in 2007 as consumers continue to switch en masse from buying CDs to downloading songs via high-speed connections.  Over the past 10 years, the emissions savings from avoided drive time alone add up to 17.6 million tons of GHG.  Demand for plastic CD cases has also fallen as more and more people switch to downloading.  ACI estimates that “6 million tons of emissions have been saved in the last 10 years by reducing the demand for plastic cases,” which are generally made from petroleum.  All told, the switch to downloads from CDs that’s been underway since 1997 translates into a total savings of 23.6 million tons of GHG – a remarkable decrease in emissions.  

 

These are just two examples of broadband’s potential to promote energy-efficient behaviors.  As Congress continues its efforts to address global warming, the debate over which technologies can best contribute to that fight will continue – and broadband must be an integral part of that conversation.

 

To learn more about the event, review the GeSI study, and some of the other studies on the role of broadband and ICT in promoting energy efficiency, please visit: http://www.americanprogressaction.org/events/2008/07/climateconnections.html