Audit of Carbon Emissions resulting from ICT usage by Australian Business

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is becoming more and more prevalent within business around the world. The information age and the economic affordability of powerful computing equipment has seen the use of ICT by business continue to rise. Most businesses now rely upon ICT to perform routine daily tasks and technology continually absorbs or improves human processes as businesses strive to achieve better customer service and improved competitiveness.

With this increasing reliance upon ICT by business, the demand for power is also increasing. This increasing energy demand leads to increased carbon emissions from the power generation process, contributing to the greenhouse gas problem developing globally.

To create an effective program to cap and reduce emissions requires that the current state be quantified and understood. From such base information the benefits and reductions by specific initiatives can be monitored and reviewed.

Estimation of the various components that contribute to the totals is not a simple task. Without embarking on a national, obligatory survey of all users of ICT, estimations must be made that take into account the numbers and sizes of businesses as well as the typical ICT usage (and hence attributed power consumption) of these businesses. This report summarises an estimation model that derives much data from published statistics along with industry standard power consumption models.

The model generates an estimate of the total carbon emissions attributable to ICT usage by Australian businesses. The ICT equipment included in the model covers desktop computer workstations, local area network equipment, server and back office equipment, and office telephone equipment. Estimations of the usage of each of these equipment components by type and size of business are included.

A number of short term and medium/long term opportunities are then described that allow the ongoing reduction of these emissions through technology implementation and business process improvements through ICT usage.