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FEATURE ENVIRONMENT
Telefónica’s efforts to use less energy and emit less greenhouse gas include using equipment with power-saving features and free cooling
emissions elsewhere. ‘BT is measuring that for every tonne of CO2
we emit, our customers save
1.6 tonnes,’ Lord said. ‘For example, smart logistics can reduce the fuel needed for a fleet for a relatively small requirement on data transmission and processing.’ Neves says the question of ‘limiting the
internet’ goes beyond the energy consumption and even the decision-making power of industry. Meanwhile, GeSI’s forecasts for the growth of the digital economy certainly provide a strong case against limits. ‘An assessment of mobility and logistics, manufacturing, food, buildings, energy, work and business, health and learning shows ICT could generate over $11 trillion in economic benefits per year by 2030, the equivalent of China’s GDP in 2015,’ Neves said. ‘ICT will connect 2.5 billion extra people to the knowledge economy by 2030, giving 1.6 billion more people access to healthcare and half a billion more people access to e-learning tools. Terefore, our approach is two-fold: encourage investment on broadband infrastructure as a driver of greater efficiencies and societal benefits through the enabling capacity of ICT, while at the same time becoming more efficient in managing our own operations. Tat is why GeSI committed at the Climate Conference in Paris at the end of 2015 to achieve a 25 per cent efficiency reduction target on its own operations.’ To help get the full benefits, Neves asks
of renewable energy.’ By 2020 50 per cent of the electricity Telefónica uses will come from clean sources, and 100 per cent by 2030, the company has undertaken. ‘We think we are quite ambitious taking into account some of the markets that we are working in,’ Paemen said. For example, in some Latin American countries where Telefónica operates, it can’t choose what kind of energy it purchases and doesn’t know how that will change, she notes. Nevertheless, the company’s projections indicate that both the energy efficiency efforts, but also the switch to renewable energy will reduce its costs, Paemen adds.
No limits With energy consumption apparently not tracking exponential data growth, suggestions by communications and computer scientists at Lancaster University, UK, to ‘limit the size of the internet’ seem unnecessary. And while Telefónica is ‘interested’ in this idea, according to Paemen, the company echoes GeSI’s position about the broader offsetting benefits of ICT in areas like the Internet of Tings (IoT). ‘We see the use of IoT and much more meticulous measuring of the
energy as helping reduce energy consumption rather than increase it,’ she said. ‘Te things we are working on right now are things like smart cities, smart buildings, smart transport, all this is aimed, among other things, at reducing energy consumption. We believe that in the end, the outlook shouldn’t be that negative.’ Lord likewise sees ‘no evidence to support
“runaway” energy consumption’. ‘I would suspect that such an outcome would self-regulate through higher costs,’ the BT executive said. ‘Our worst-case models help explain why some scientists suggest this type of scenario, but these tend to be either simplistic worst case scenarios, or they require some pretty odd economic and political situations to occur.’ Te GreenTouch consortium has shown there
is scope for continued network energy reduction, even with rapid traffic growth, Lord adds. Using various technologies, architectures, components, algorithms and protocols, GreenTouch concluded net energy consumption in end-to-end communications networks could be cut by up to 98 per cent by 2020 compared to 2010. He points to the way the internet can reduce carbon
policymakers to do three things. First, set and enforce global and national emissions targets. Second, incentivise investments in broadband infrastructure to connect the unconnected and enable more people to gain access to ICT. Tird, establish a fair, balanced and consistent regulatory approach. Te result, Neves stresses, should be accelerated widespread adoption of the ICT solutions needed to reap the enormous broader societal and environmental benefits identified in GeSI’s SMARTer2030 report. ‘ICT has the potential to create a more hopeful and prosperous future, putting the citizen at the heart of a sustainable digital economy,’ he stated. ICT’s chief role is to blaze a trail by breaking
the link between data and energy consumption, so other sectors can realise similar opportunities. ‘Sourcing from renewables is an important step in the transition to a low-carbon economy,’ Neves conceded. ‘But our message about the ICT enabling potential can only be reinforced when we show a proactive approach in being more efficient ourselves. And aſter all, it has been said that the cheapest unit of energy is the one you don’t use!’l
Andy Extance is a freelance science writer based in Exeter, UK
Issue 15 • Spring 2017 FIBRE SYSTEMS 23
Telefónica
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