SBI Bulletin: Energy Efficiency Technologies in Information and Communication Industry, 2005-2015

Businesses which produce equipment, software and services to process, deliver and display electronic information comprise the information and communications technology (ICT) industry. At the forefront of innovation, the ICT sector is one of the most rapidly growing sectors of the global economy. Demand for personal computers, smart phones and broadband services continue to increase rapidly.

The use of ICT products across wide ranging applications currently accounts for 5.7% of the world’s electricity consumption and 1.8% of global carbon emissions. However, ongoing technological innovations are enabling the ICT sector to improve the in-use energy efficiency of its products, including personal computers and peripherals, data center equipment and telecommunications devices and networks. These innovations are expected to improve overall ICT product energy efficiency by 38% by 2015 as compared to 2005 levels.

ICT products and services enable energy efficiency and emissions reductions in other industries as well. ICTs can be employed to capture, communicate, analyze and respond to vast amounts of data, which can lead to optimized energy use within large, energy-reliant sectors such as the power, industrial and logistics sectors. Similarly, the adoption of ICT products and technologies can reduce energy consumption across sectors by enabling smart buildings, dematerialization and travel substitution.

This SBI Bulletin identifies the most significant opportunities to improve energy efficiency through the use of ICT through 2015. Representative ICT products, technologies and requirements are discussed. Opportunities to improve energy efficiency are presented for the following sectors: ICT, power, industrial, logistics, building management systems, dematerialization and travel substitution.