International Telecommunication Union Methodologies for measuring the ICT impact on Climate Change Keith Dickerson Chairman SG5 WP3 ICT & Climate Change 1

International Telecommunication Union Methodology Editor Group of Deliverable 3 Methodology Yoh Somemura (NTT), Chairman Takeshi Origuchi (NTT), Editor Yong-Woon KIM (ETRI), Co-editor Gilbert Buty (Alcatel-Lucent), Co-editor Didier Marquet (France Telecom), Co-editor Willem Vereecken, (Ghent University), Co-editor Hans-Otto Scheck (Nokia Siemens Networks), Co-editor

ITU-T timeline for ICTs and Climate Change December 2007: ITU Technology Watch report to TSAG on ICTs & CC Symposia on ICTs & Climate Change in Kyoto and London July 2008: TSAG sets up Focus Group on 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

- Reduction of ICTs own emissions over their entire lifecycle (direct impact) => Power reduction methods - Mitigation that follows through the adoption of ICTs in other 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 m 2 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 m 3 = 1,000 L Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 ) = 1 CO 2 e Methane (CH 4 )= 25 CO 2 e Nitrous Oxide (N 2 O) = 298 CO 2 e Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF 6 ) = 22,800 CO 2 e HFC-23 (CHF 3 )= 14,800 CO 2 e Global warming Potential (GWP) Metric System

Direct Emissions – CO 2 intensity

Impact of own GHG emissions LCA require to set Functional Unit System boundary Allocation procedure Case study: LCA of Wired Network

Impact of own GHG emissions LCA require to set Functional Unit System boundary Allocation procedure Case study: LCA of Wireless Network

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 moving goods (e.g. mail, trucks, rail cargo, cargo ships) 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

Evaluation method for work efficiency

Impact on other sectors - Teleworking Typical CO 2 emissions per unit area of office space JapanUSA

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 Reduction of 53%Reduction of 52% Impact on other sectors - Videoconferencing

Impact on other sectors - Post vs Case-study: Comparison of GHG emissions of postal mail and services

16 Pitfalls: 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

17 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 extra kWh (Gas) 2500 kWh extra

Net result 18 Conversion 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 projections Accompaniment measures will make a big difference (e.g. educating home-workers) Secondary optimisation is needed to maximise impact 19

Secondary optimisation The increase in domestic CO 2 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 youve gained nothing! Semi-flexible workers means this is often impractical 20

Further work in ITU-T SG5 Q. #TitleRapporteur 17/5Coordination and Planning of ICT&CC related standardization Paolo Gemma Associate: Franz Zichy 18/5Methodology of environmental impact assessment of ICT Jean-Manuel Canet Associate: Takafumi Hashitani 19/5Power feeding systemsKaoru Asakura Associate: Didier Marquet 20/5Data Collection for Energy Efficiency for ICTs over the lifecycle Gilbert Buty Associate: Dave Faulkner 21/5Environmental protection and recycling of ICT equipments/facilities Didier Marquet; Júlio Cesar Fonseca Associate: Ms Xia Zhang, Paulo Curado Chairman WP3: Mr. Keith Dickerson (BT, UK), Vice chairs: Ms Eunsook Kim (Korea) and Mr. Takeshi Origuchi (NTT, Japan)