How Our Digital Lives Contribute to Climate Change

The world has witnessed a rapid increase in the demand for #digital services over the past decade, which has been fuelled by the growth in internet users and traffic.

The number of internet users worldwide has more than doubled since 2010, while global internet traffic has expanded 20-fold. This increased demand has a significant impact on energy use and emissions, and it is crucial to address these issues to achieve global clean energy transitions.

Here, we will discuss the impact of digital services on energy use and #emissions , as well as the measures needed to curb energy demand and reduce emissions to align with the Net Zero by 2050 scenario.

Digital Services and CO2 Emissions

Digital services have direct and indirect effects on energy use and emissions. Direct effects include energy consumption from #datacenters and data transmission networks, which accounted for around 300 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2020, equivalent to 0.9% of energy-related GHG emissions.

Since 2010, digital services led emissions have grown only modestly despite rapidly growing demand for digital services, thanks to energy efficiency improvements, renewable energy purchases by ICT companies, and broader decarbonization of electricity grids in many regions. However, to get on track with the Net Zero Scenario, emissions must halve by 2030.

Data Centers and Energy Use

Data centers and data transmission networks are responsible for nearly 1% of energy-related GHG emissions. Global data center electricity use in 2021 was 220-320 TWh, or around 0.9-1.3% of global final electricity demand. This excludes energy used for cryptocurrency mining, which was 100-140 TWh in 2021. Since 2010, data center energy use (excluding crypto) has grown only moderately despite the strong growth in demand for data center services, thanks in part to efficiency improvements in IT hardware and cooling and a shift away from small, inefficient enterprise data centers towards more efficient cloud and hyperscale data centers. However, the rapid growth in workloads handled by large data centers has resulted in rising energy use in this segment over the past several years (increasing by 10-30% per year). Overall data center #energy use (excluding crypto) appears likely to continue growing moderately over the next few years, but longer-term trends are highly uncertain.

Although data center electricity consumption globally has grown only moderately, some smaller countries with expanding data center markets are seeing rapid growth. For example, data center electricity use in Ireland has more than tripled since 2015, accounting for 14% of total electricity consumption in 2021. In Denmark, data center energy use is projected to triple by 2025 to account for around 7% of the country’s electricity use.

Energy Efficiency and Digital Services

Strong efficiency improvements have helped limit growth in energy demand from data centers globally. The energy efficiency of data transmission has improved rapidly over the past decade. Fixed-line network energy intensity has halved every two years in developed countries, and mobile-access network energy efficiency has improved by 10-30% annually in recent years. Although the global trend in internet traffic increased by 23% in 2021, which is lower than the pandemic-driven surge of 40-50% in 2020, data from major European telecom network operators analyzed by Lundén et al. (2022) mirror these global efficiency trends. Electricity consumption by reporting companies – representing about 36% of European subscriptions and 8% of global subscriptions – increased by only 1% between 2015 and 2020, while traffic increased by more than 20% per year.

Measures Needed to Curb Energy Demand and Reduce Emissions

Although strong efficiency improvements have helped limit the growth of #energy demand in recent years, more measures are needed to effectively curb energy demand and reduce emissions. These measures can include:

1. Increasing the use of renewable energy sources: Renewable energy sources like wind, solar, hydro, and geothermal power generate electricity without producing greenhouse gas emissions. Governments can incentivize the adoption of these technologies by providing tax credits, subsidies, and other financial incentives.
3. Encouraging energy-efficient building design: Buildings are one of the largest consumers of energy worldwide. Governments can implement building codes and standards that promote energy-efficient designs and technologies such as insulation, energy-efficient windows, and high-efficiency HVAC systems.
4. Promoting public transportation and alternative modes of transportation: Transportation is another significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Governments can encourage the use of public transportation by investing in mass transit systems, bike lanes, and pedestrian walkways. They can also incentivize the purchase of electric vehicles and other low-emission vehicles.
5. Implementing carbon pricing mechanisms: Carbon pricing mechanisms like carbon taxes and cap-and-trade programs put a price on greenhouse gas emissions, providing an economic incentive for companies and individuals to reduce their emissions.
6. Investing in research and development of new technologies: Governments can fund research and development of new, low-emission technologies to help accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.

These measures, along with others, can help curb energy demand and reduce emissions, mitigating the impacts of climate change and ensuring a more sustainable #future for generations to come.

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