Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have risen dramatically over the last three decades and are of major concern for our societies. Their malign environmental impact is pushing governments, enterprises, and civil society to reorganize and find cutting edge solutions to meet this challenge.
- The target of our research is to investigate how ICT technology can contribute to the CO2 emission reduction, especially thanks to fixed broadband and transmission technologies.
- One of our key conclusions: fiber is the most energy efficient technology, offering the lowest CO2 footprint. Fiber consumes three times less energy than xDSL and 10 times less than 4G access technology. Based on the data from GeSI (Global e-Sustainability Initiative) Smarter 2030 study, IDATE estimates that the abatement effect of Fiber will reach 1,6 Gt CO2 by 2030.
- The impact of fiber network in CO2 abatement goes beyond the telecom industry. Fiber connections are critical element for the provision of the new digital application by many industries based on either fixed network connection or wireless network. Hence, they would also benefit from deeper and more granular fibre networks to reduce their carbon footprint.
- All industry players should consider how to integrate fiber networks in its CO2 reduction strategy. Fiber per se would influence the CO2 abatement of the industry as a connectivity solution requiring less energy consumption. It can also indirectly influence the more efficient use of energy, heating and water consumption thanks to fiber-based metering devices network.