The Hindu Business Line : ICT use can help cut emissions: Study

Fighting climate change
Has identified 4 major sectors — smart building design and use, smart logistics, smart electricity grids and smart industrial motor systems.
Smart grid technologies can globally reduce over two giga tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Our Bureau

Mumbai, Nov 4 India may be known the world over for its expertise in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector; but the use of such technology within the country is rather limited. A more pervasive use of ICT can help reduce emissions and fight climate change, according to a new research study.

“Transformation in the way people and business use technology could reduce annual manmade global emissions by 15 per cent by 2020 and deliver energy efficient savings to global businesses of over $800 billion”, according to the new report published by independent non-profit organisations The Climate Group and GeSI (Global e-Sustainability Initiative).

The study has identified four major opportunities where ICT can make further transformational cuts in global emissions. These include smart building design and use, smart logistics, smart electricity grids and smart industrial motor systems. They will be in addition to by now well-acknowledged applications in activities such as tele-working, video-conferencing, e-paper and e-commerce.

Smart grid technologies were the largest opportunity explored in the study, and could globally reduce over two giga tons of CO2 emissions worth nearly $125 billion. India is seen capable of making a meaningful contribution. Currently, in India, over 30 per cent of the generated power is lost through aggregated technical commercial losses, the report pointed out adding reduction of these losses in India’s power sector by 30 per cent is possible through better monitoring and management of electricity grids, first with smart meters and then through integrating more advanced ICTs into the so-called ‘energy internet’.

Among other areas of opportunities, the global study predicts PC ownership will quadruple between 2007 and 2020 to four billion devices.

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