ICTs for reducing C emissions: a
development perspective
Richard Labelle
(rlab@sympatico.ca)
ICT Strategist & ITU-D Consultant
The Aylmer Group
Gatineau, Canada
ICTs for abating climate change
Objective
• Enhance the capacity of developing countries to use ICTs to
mitigate the effects of and adapt to climate change
Steps
• Document impacts of ICTs on climate change worldwide
• Assess relevance to the developing world in consultation
• Identify priorities
• Develop strategies and tools
• Consult, test & modify, improve
• Raise awareness
• Execute
ITU Work on e-Environment
 ITU mandate on ICT applications and strategies:
 Co-facilitator of WSIS Action
Line C7 on e-Environment
 Develop guidelines, training
materials and toolkits on
technology & policy aspects of
e-Environment applications
 Assist developing countries in
implementing relevant ICT
applications for environment
and sustainable development
Mandate: Resolution 35, ITU Plenipotentiary Conference (Kyoto, 1994) & Resolution 54, ITU
World Telecommunication Development Conference (Doha, 2006)
3
ICTs for e-Environment Report
• Objective:
– Provide guidelines for developing countries on
the use of ICTs for better management and
protection of the environment as a key part of
their development process, with particular
focus on climate change
• Examines six areas of ICT use:
–
–
–
–
–
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Environmental Observation
Analysis
Planning
Management and Protection
ICT Mitigation and
Capacity Building
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb
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Current ITU-D Activities
•
To assist decision-makers in ITU Members States,
ITU-D has initiated a series of activities:
–
–
E-Environment toolkit: Practical guidelines for
assessing needs and establishing strategies for the
implementation of national e-environment plans
Capacity building: Joint training with the Abdus Salam
International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP)
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Effects of ICTs
1st Order
• The direct environmental impact of ICT product cycles
– Trend: newer and more energy efficient technologies
2nd Order
•
in energy & process efficiency as a result of using ICTs for
business and everyday uses: e-business – e-commerce, egovernment
–
in energy efficiency has potential for greatest impact
3rd Order
• Behavioural adaptations / System wide effects
ICTs and energy efficiency
taken from: CEC: COM(2009) 111 final
ICTs enable energy efficiency by reducing the amount
of energy to deliver a service:
• By monitoring and directly managing energy consumption in
major energy using sectors,
• By providing the tools for more energy-efficient business
models and practices and lifestyles: e-commerce, egovernment, telework, etc.
• By delivering innovative technologies, ICTs can reduce
wasteful consumption of energy; solid-state lighting is one
clear example. Emerging solutions in computing such as thin
clients, grid computing and virtualization technologies
promise to reduce redundancies existing in today’s systems.
ICTs and energy efficiency – cont’d
taken from: CEC: COM(2009) 111 final
ICTs can provide the quantitative basis on which
energy-efficient strategies can be devised,
implemented and evaluated
• Smart metering exploits the capacity of ICTs to quantify
energy consumption and provide appropriate information to
consumers
• Measuring energy performance at a system level
Challenges
• A lack of awareness of the potential that ICTs have to mitigate climate
change
– More concerned with the limiting the 2% ICT related emissions than the potential
for reducing the 98 %
– Climate change & the environment: not priorities in many DCs priorities unless
dealing with:
• Weather or emergencies / disaster preparedness; agricultural production
• Lack of knowledge
– Limited availability of the documented technologies and practices
– What is the impact? How to measure the impact of ICTs?
– What standards to use: ITU SG5 (Environment & climate change)
• Cost
– The cost of installing smart meters may be a deterrent, etc.
– Some solutions may lead to increased CO2 emissions initially
• The nature of economic activity that powers the economy
– Will less industrialized countries benefit and how?
– Will rural dwellers benefit?
Opportunities
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Better designed ICT devices and components
Dematerialization
Increased process efficiency
Smart motor systems
Smart logistics
Smart transportation systems
Smart buildings
Efficiency in electricity generation and management (Smart
Grids)
• Smart human ecosystems
Questions
• ICTs have potential for helping developed and developing
countries to mitigate the impact of CC - is this so?
• What is the potential for mitigating CC using ICTs in
developing countries?
• Is using ICTs for mitigating CC in developing countries a
priority? This needs to be demonstrated to secure support
• What has been done so far to research / document the effect
of ICTs on mitigating CC in the developing world?
• Who are potential partners to further research and explore
this question?
Australian energy emissions by sector
Source: Climate Risk Pty. 2007. Towards a High-Bandwidth, Low-Carbon Future: Telecommunications-based Opportunities to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
Fairlight, Australia. 109 pp. http://www.climaterisk.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2007/CR_Telstra_ClimateReport.pdf
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/sustainable-growth/studies_en.html
ICT energy saving potential in the EU (2020)
(Bio Intelligence Service report)
ICT CO2 saving potential in the EU (2020)
(Bio Intelligence Service report)
Quoted in study by L. Hilty, V. Coroama, M. Osses, T.Ruddy, EMPA
(CH) / ICT Ensure
Quoted in study by L. Hilty, V. Coroama, M. Osses, T.Ruddy, EMPA
(CH) / ICT Ensure
Reducing C intensity in education in Brasil
What does it mean?
• Greatest potential is in smart motors, energy generation and
smart controls: smart buildings, transportation, logistics, grids
– For the EU: the Eco solution offers
• Actual results depend on C intensity of energy generation
technologies used
• In rural areas in DCs, main benefits from introducing low
bandwidth services & wireless services:
– e-government, e-commerce to reduce displacements, queuing,
inefficiencies (corruption), remittances, for bill payments, etc.
– Probably not significant in the C balance
Implications for developing countries
• All countries can respond to climate change by a process of adaptation to
its impacts and by reducing GHG emissions (mitigation), thereby reducing
the rate and magnitude of climate change
• The capacity to adapt and mitigate is dependent on socio-economic and
environmental circumstances and availability of ICTs
• Many countries have limited capacity to make beneficial use of ICTs for
environmental action:
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Limited access to affordable infrastructure & internet
Limited human capacity to analyze & interpret climate change data
Limited capacity to integrate scientific data into decision- and policy-making
Limited capacity to undertake adaptation, mitigation, R & D
Little political will
But popular demand for environmental action is increasing
The e-environment toolkit
The e-environment Toolkit identifies factors that influence the
readiness of countries to use ICTs as a tool for fighting
environmental change in general and climate change in
particular
• Readiness assessment
• Measure / estimate actual and potential contribution of
specific ICT technologies and applications
• Comparative analysis: identify and track indicators
• The e-Environment Readiness Index (EERI)
• Work in progress
Prepared in collaboration with Ralph Rodschat of Nortel, draft under review.
Indicators used
ICT indicators
Infrastructure
Applications
e-Environment
Energy quality
Human capacity
Environmental
indicators
Biodiversity measures
Greenhouse
gases
emissions
Long term preparedness
Policy
and
awareness
public
Latin America Details
First Level EERI
Normalized ICT
Summary Indicator
Applications
e-Environment
Energy Quality
Human Capacity
Infrastructure
Normalized
Environmental
Summary Indicator
Biodiversity
Green-house gases
Long-term
preparedness
Policy & Public
Awareness
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Ecuador
Guatemala
Guyana
Honduras
Jamaica
Mexico
Nicaragua
Paraguay
Peru
Uruguay
Venezuela
6.0
5.5
7.4
6.5
6.5
6.9
5.4
5.6
5.4
6.1
5.6
6.1
5.2
6.3
6.1
4.9
6.7
5.5
3.2
5.5
5.9
4.3
5.8
3.7
3.8
3.4
4.2
4.3
5.4
3.4
4.6
4.7
4.3
4.1
5.6
3.8
6.4
6.1
5.4
5.5
4.2
4.4
3.0
3.8
4.8
6.1
3.3
3.6
5.0
5.2
4.8
8.4
4.7
8.4
8.4
4.7
10.0
4.7
4.7
4.7
8.4
4.7
10.0
4.7
8.4
8.4
3.1
4.7
4.8
3.3
5.4
5.1
4.3
5.6
4.2
4.7
...
3.8
4.1
2.0
4.6
5.4
3.6
4.7
4.8
3.9
2.4
4.3
5.0
3.7
5.1
2.2
2.0
3.6
2.1
3.2
6.4
2.6
3.0
3.7
4.2
2.9
4.7
1.7
3.4
4.9
3.4
3.1
3.0
3.2
2.3
2.7
4.7
3.1
1.8
2.3
2.8
4.1
3.5
6.6
7.8
9.2
7.2
8.8
7.9
7.2
7.3
7.4
8.1
6.9
6.8
7.0
8.0
7.5
5.5
9.2
1.625
5.3
7.4
4.7
6.6
7.8
6.4
8.2
0.6
5.3
5.2
2.0
4.2
1.5
3.5
0.1
10.0
8.5
9.7
9.3
8.5
9.5
9.4
9.1
9.6
9.2
9.5
8.4
8.3
9.7
9.7
9.5
9.3
7.4
6.4
8.8
9.8
7.4
9.1
7.4
7.4
7.3
9.2
8.1
6.7
6.7
8.2
9.1
8.8
5.8
9.6
10.0
5.3
9.4
7.5
9.4
7.5
5.3
4.1
7.5
9.2
7.5
10.0
3.8
10.0
5.7
5.7
9.8
Latin America Map and Ranking
Brazil
Costa Rica
Venezuela
Colombia
Chile
Paraguay
Honduras
Mexico
Peru
Argentina
Jamaica
Guatemala
Bolivia
Ecuador
Guyana
Nicaragua
Uruguay
7.4
6.9
6.7
6.5
6.5
6.3
6.1
6.1
6.1
6.0
5.6
5.6
5.5
5.4
5.4
5.2
4.9
First level EERI