Information Technology -/+

Thanks to Molly for pointing me to Smart 2020 the recent Climate Group report on ICT (Information and Communication Technology - ie the internet, computing, telecoms and everything that comes with those). Many will have heard of the Gartner Group calculation that ICT already accounts for more emissions than the global aviation industry. What's less discussed is the potential huge role that ICT can play in reducing emissions. From the report summary... "The ICT sector’s own emissions are expected to increase, in a business as usual (BAU) scenario, from 0.53 billion tonnes (Gt) carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) in 2002 to 1.43 GtCO2e in 2020. But specific ICT opportunities identified in this report can lead to emission reductions five times the size of the sector’s own footprint, up to 7.8 GtCO2e, or 15% of total BAU emissions by 2020." Perhaps there's hope for us yet :J