Not All That Glitters Is Gold

Green ICTs, i.e. the application of ICTs to create environmental benefits, have the potential to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, generating important socio-economic impacts. Direct impacts concern the design, manufacture, distribution, usage, maintenance and disposal of ICT goods and services by the ICT sector – the so-called 'greening ICT'. At a second level, the impact occurs through the application of green ICTs across sectors, organizations and society – the so-called 'greening by ICT'. Systemic impacts refer to the economic and social structures and behavioral changes based on the large-scale availability and use of green ICT goods and services.

The ICT industry has transformed the way we interact, communicate and work, uncovering opportunities to reduce the human impact on nature. E-commerce, tele/smart-working, and video conferencing have reduced the need for travelling and hence the emission of greenhouse gases. Similarly, wireless sensors and monitoring technologies have allowed the development of smart grids, smart homes and smart buildings that optimize energy management. Other examples of environmental benefits from green ICTs concern the improved energy efficiency in the manufacturing, distribution and use of ICT products; the reduced carbon emissions from renewable energy for production and use; a more efficient manufacturing and waste disposal or life-cycle management; new ways of managing firm processes throughout the value chain; and the development of new business models.

However, not all that glitters is gold. Despite the positive view of ICTs as enablers of green growth, there is still no consensus about the real impact of these technologies on sustainability. While some scholars highlight the ability of ICTs to improve energy efficiency and reduce renewable energy costs, others focus on the strong connection between the diffusion of ICTs and economic growth, which might even increase energy use and carbon emissions. ICTs reduce carbon emissions through the reduction in energy intensity or through the increased production of renewable energies. Recent evidence shows that the net positive outcome is not large, because of a rebound effect: the reduction in energy prices increases energy demand and therefore enhances the competition of carbon-based fuels with new renewables. Since developed and developing economies increasingly rely on ICT devices and services, the need for energy to manufacture and electricity to power the devices increases. As such, ICT can contribute to sustainability only in combination with some form of carbon pricing.

From a policy and managerial perspective, there is the need to tackle the most important sources of CO2 emissions: data centers (45% of total CO2 emissions due to IT), communication networks (24%) and ICT devices (smartphones in particular: 11%). Data centers are perfectly suited to operate with solar and/or wind energy combined with a large energy storage for backup and after-hours, since they are centralized infrastructures with a very steady and predictable energy consumption and can be developed in open land and remote areas. The greening of communication networks is more complex, since they are scattered and diverse in their characteristics and energy consumption. A device's footprint depends on its production energy (material extraction and energy consumed during the manufacturing process) and its short usage life, which is particularly problematic for smartphones. Mitigating actions should focus on the use of renewable energies for the production and on the extension of usage life. In this context, company managers have the opportunity to play a major role in fostering the greening of the ICT industry, favouring cloud service providers and renewable-powered data centers. At the same time, they should migrate their employees towards high-performance, low-power devices with a relatively long lifetime.