Known unknowns: indirect energy effects of information and communication technology
Abstract
There has been sustained and growing interest in characterizing the net energy impact of information and communication technology (ICT), which results from indirect effects offsetting (or amplifying) the energy directly consumed by ICT equipment. These indirect effects may be either positive or negative, and there is considerable disagreement as to the direction of this sign as well as the effect magnitude. Literature in this area ranges from studies focused on a single service (such as e-commerce versus traditional retail) to macroeconomic studies attempting to characterize the overall impact of ICT. Methods. We review the literature on the indirect energy effect of ICT found via Google Scholar, our own research, and input from other researchers in the field. The various studies are linked to an effect taxonomy, which is synthesized from several different hierarchies present in the literature. References are further grouped according to ICT service (e.g., e-commerce, telework) and summarized by scope, method, and quantitative and qualitative findings. Review results. Uncertainty persists in understanding the net energy effects of ICT. Results of indirect energy effect studies are highly sensitive to scoping decisions and assumptions made by the analyst. Uncertainty increases as the impact scope broadens, due to complex and interconnectedmore »
- Authors:
-
[1];
- Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1377527
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Environmental Research Letters
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 11; Journal Issue: 10; Journal ID: ISSN 1748-9326
- Publisher:
- IOP Publishing
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY; ICT; indirect energy effects; green computing; e-services
Citation Formats
Horner, Nathaniel C., Shehabi, Arman, and Azevedo, Ines L. Known unknowns: indirect energy effects of information and communication technology. United States: N. p., 2016.
Web. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/11/10/103001.
Horner, Nathaniel C., Shehabi, Arman, & Azevedo, Ines L. Known unknowns: indirect energy effects of information and communication technology. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/10/103001
Horner, Nathaniel C., Shehabi, Arman, and Azevedo, Ines L. Wed .
"Known unknowns: indirect energy effects of information and communication technology". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/10/103001. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1377527.
@article{osti_1377527,
title = {Known unknowns: indirect energy effects of information and communication technology},
author = {Horner, Nathaniel C. and Shehabi, Arman and Azevedo, Ines L.},
abstractNote = {There has been sustained and growing interest in characterizing the net energy impact of information and communication technology (ICT), which results from indirect effects offsetting (or amplifying) the energy directly consumed by ICT equipment. These indirect effects may be either positive or negative, and there is considerable disagreement as to the direction of this sign as well as the effect magnitude. Literature in this area ranges from studies focused on a single service (such as e-commerce versus traditional retail) to macroeconomic studies attempting to characterize the overall impact of ICT. Methods. We review the literature on the indirect energy effect of ICT found via Google Scholar, our own research, and input from other researchers in the field. The various studies are linked to an effect taxonomy, which is synthesized from several different hierarchies present in the literature. References are further grouped according to ICT service (e.g., e-commerce, telework) and summarized by scope, method, and quantitative and qualitative findings. Review results. Uncertainty persists in understanding the net energy effects of ICT. Results of indirect energy effect studies are highly sensitive to scoping decisions and assumptions made by the analyst. Uncertainty increases as the impact scope broadens, due to complex and interconnected effects. However, there is general agreement that ICT has large energy savings potential, but that the realization of this potential is highly dependent on deployment details and user behavior. Discussion. While the overall net effect of ICT is likely to remain unknown, this review suggests several guidelines for improving research quality in this area, including increased data collection, enhancing traditional modeling studies with sensitivity analysis, greater care in scoping, less confidence in characterizing aggregate impacts, more effort on understanding user behavior, and more contextual integration across the different levels of the effect taxonomy.},
doi = {10.1088/1748-9326/11/10/103001},
journal = {Environmental Research Letters},
number = 10,
volume = 11,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Oct 05 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Wed Oct 05 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}
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