CARBON AND THE ICT SECTOR
WSP Environment and Energy has undertaken a number of important projects in the information communication technology (ICT) sector. The Boston Consulting Group and WSP worked with the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) to develop a methodology to calculate the carbon reduction potential of ICT products and services, which led to further work leading a working group under the WRI/ WBCSD Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol to develop standard GHG accounting guidance for data centres, Cloud computing services and software.
Working with Microsoft, Salesforce and Accenture, we also sought to estimate the
energy saving and carbon benefi ts of running business applications through Cloud computing, compared to using traditional on-site data centres and server rooms.
The studies confi rmed signifi cant associated emission reductions and our work for Microsoft was published more than 1,700 times via the internet and is being taken forward in additional industry studies by Imperial College London. These will consider the broader contribution of cloud computing to GHG policy goals across European markets. We also supported the design and development of marketing outreach solutions for Salesforce, including a white paper and online trackers and calculators that demonstrate how emissions savings accumulate over time and help prospective customers evaluate the overall benefi t of Cloud services.
A CARBON CALCULATOR FOR THE FOOD INDUSTRY
In Sweden, Unilever Food Solutions estimates that food represents 25% of everyone’s carbon footprint. With this in mind, WSP was commissioned by Unilever to develop a food carbon calculator for use in a country-wide school climate campaign. The campaign aims to inform schoolchildren about sources of carbon emissions in food.
The project involved WSP assessing the carbon emissions resulting from the growing and sourcing of key ingredients in Unilever products such as soups and broths. Common recipes, regularly used in schools were also assessed in detail and external data for different foods’ carbon footprint were collected. The resulting model incorporating a carbon calculator reveals which school meal ingredients have the largest carbon emissions. The model also allows the user to make their own recipe adjustments to reduce emissions, as the model shows, among other things, which of the ingredients in school meals have the greatest impact on climate.
At one school, Tensta Gymnasium to the north of Stockholm, kitchen staff cooked food based on recipes from Unilever Food Solutions. The school already cooked ingredients that were mainly locally produced and organic, but with recipes and material from the campaign they were able make further improvements and adjustments to their meals. Students using the calculation model worked out that carbon dioxide emissions were reduced by 900kg a week as a result of following the campaign.
A website has been developed to provide assistance to schools to choose climate- friendly raw materials and recipes:
www.klimatsmartmat.net
WSP GROUP SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2010 | 31
EMBEDDING SUSTAINABILITY
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