Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Energy Efficiency Benefits and the Economic Imperative of ICT-Enabled Systems

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
ICT Innovations for Sustainability

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 310))

Abstract

The global economy is not particularly energy-efficient. At current levels of consumption, we now waste about 86 % of the energy now used to maintain economic activity. This magnitude of waste imposes huge costs that constrain the robustness of the world economy. At the same time, however, there is an array of untapped cost-effective energy efficiency resources that can restore both energy and economic efficiency. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) may be the key to unlocking that potential.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 189.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The mentioned examples of energy expenditures are derived from several calculations by the author.

  2. 2.

    Laitner [2] builds on an updates work published by Ayres and War [3].

  3. 3.

    The 11 countries are Australia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Estimated energy use is calculated on the basis of how much energy would have been required to deliver the actual levels of activity reported each year for all sub-sectors had 1974 levels of energy use per unit of output persisted. “Other” includes biofuels plus heat from geothermal, solar, co-generation and district heating. Co-generation refers to the combined production of heat and power.

  4. 4.

    As a further insight, the 830 exabytes will be up significantly from 523 exabytes recorded in 2012, and heading for 1,448 exabytes or 1.4 zettabytes by 2017. That will translate into an average annual compound growth rate of 23 % over the period 2012–2017 [18].

  5. 5.

    An update on the state of research in Internet energy intensity is provided in two later chapters of this book [20, 21].

  6. 6.

    The calculations in this paragraph exclude televisions and related equipment as among the ICT-related technologies.

  7. 7.

    The emphasis here and elsewhere is on net energy savings. That is to say, the studies cited here reflect both the energy necessary to build, operate and maintain ICT-related technologies as well as the energy displaced by the use of those technologies.

  8. 8.

    Related to the social media and networking mechanism is the role of consumer feedback. In a 2010 detailed review of 57 multi-continent studies over a 30-year period, Ehrhardt-Martinez et al. [26] showed that feedback initiatives—including real-time Web-based or in-home feedback devices and enhanced billing approaches–reduced individual household electricity consumption an average 4–12 %. Huber and Hilty [27] provide a brief overview of eco-feedback systems and related approaches in their chapter about gamification in this volume.

  9. 9.

    Following are examples of three important market failures and suggested remedies: (1) step-change technology development in which there may be many uncertainties about appropriate technologies, as well as both market, and policy risks. Temporary incentives might be used to encourage companies to deploy new technologies at sufficient scale in ways that benefit the public good. Other remedies might include energy efficiency resource standards, energy or fuel performance standards and low-carbon fuel standards. (2) Fragmented supply chains—where economically rational investments (for example, energy efficiency in buildings) are not executed because of the complex supply chain. Examples of remedies are building codes or incentives for performance upgrades. (3) Consumer behavior where individuals have demonstrated high discount rates for investments in energy efficiency. Examples of remedies are vehicle and appliance efficiency standards and rebate programs [29].

  10. 10.

    Gossart [37] provides an overview of the literature on rebound effects in an ICT context later in this volume.

References

  1. Emerson, R.W.: The American scholar. In: Nature Addresses and Lectures, vol. 1, pp. 81–84. Wm. H. Wise 1923, New York (1837)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Laitner, J.A.S.: Linking energy efficiency to economic productivity: recommendations for improving the robustness of the U.S. economy. ACEEE Report E13F. American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Ayres, R.U., Warr, B.S.: The Economic Growth Engine: How Energy and Work Drive Material Prosperity. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham (2009)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  4. EIA: United States Energy Information Administration: International Energy Statistics. U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C. (2013) http://www.eia.gov/cfapps/ipdbproject/iedindex3.cfm. Accessed 31 May 2014

  5. International Energy Agency: Energy Efficiency Market Report. OECD/IEA, Paris (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  6. International Energy Agency: World Energy Outlook. OECD/IEA, Paris (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Lazard Asset Management: Lazard’s Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis: Version 7.0. Lazard, Ltd, New York (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Elliott, R.N., Gold, R., Hayes, S.: Avoiding a Train Wreck: Replacing Old Coal Plants with Energy Efficiency. American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Washington, D.C. (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  9. McKinsey & Company: The Case for Investing in Energy Productivity (2008). http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/energy_resources_materials/the_case_for_investing_in_energy_productivity. Accessed 31 May 2014

  10. McKinsey & Company: Unlocking Energy Efficiency in the U.S. Economy. McKinsey & Company (2009) http://www.mckinsey.com/client_service/electric_power_and_natural_gas/latest_thinking/unlocking_energy_efficiency_in_the_us_economy. Accessed 31 May 2014

  11. Cleetus, R., Clemmer, S., Friedman, D.: Climate 2030: A National Blueprint for a Clean Energy Economy. Union of Concerned Scientists, Cambridge (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Laitner, J.A.S., Nadel, S., Elliott, N., Sachs, H., Khan, S.: The Long-term Energy Efficiency Potential: What the Evidence Suggests. American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), Washington, D.C. (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Economics, Copenhagen: Multiple Benefits of Investing in Energy Efficient Renovation of Buildings, Brussels. Renovate Europe, Belgium (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Rifkin, J., Prunel, B., Bastie, S., Hinterman, F., Laitner, J.A.S., Moorhead, S.: Nord-Pas de Calais Third Industrial Revolution Master Plan—2013. Foundation on Economic Trends, Bethesda (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Worrell, E., Laitner, J.A.S., Ruth, M., Finman, H.: Productivity benefits of industrial energy efficiency measures. Energy 28, 1081–1098 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Lung, R.B., McKane, A., Leach, R., Marsh, D.: Ancillary benefits and production benefits in the evaluation of industrial energy efficiency measures. In: Proceedings of the 2005 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry. American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, ACEEE, Washington D.C. (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Amann, J.: Valuation of Non-energy benefits to determine cost-effectiveness of whole-house retrofit programs, Report No. AO61. American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, ACEEE, Washington, D.C (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Cisco: VNI Forecast Highlights, Cisco Systems, San Jose, CA (2014) http://www.cisco.com/web/solutions/sp/vni/vni_forecast_highlights/index.html. Accessed 31 May 2014

  19. Coroama, V.C., Hilty, L.M.: Assessing Internet energy intensity: a review of methods and results. Environ. Impact Assess. Rev. 45, 63–68 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Coroama, V.C., Schien, D., Preist, C., Hilty, L.M.: The energy intensity of the Internet: home and access networks. In: Hilty, L.M., Aebischer, B. (eds.) ICT Innovations for Sustainability. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol. 310, pp. 137−155. Springer, Switzerland (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Schien, D., Coroama, V.C., Hilty, L.M., Preist, C.: The energy intensity of the Internet: edge and core networks. In: Hilty, L.M., Aebischer, B. (eds.) ICT Innovations for Sustainability. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol. 310, pp. 157–170. Springer, Switzerland (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Laitner, J.A.S., McDonnell, M.T., Ehrhardt-Martinez, K.: The Energy Efficiency and Productivity Benefits of Smart Appliances and ICT-Enabled Networks: An Initial Assessment. American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, ACEEE, Washington, D.C. (2014, forthcoming)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Laitner, J.A.S., Partridge, B., Vittore, V.: Measuring the energy reduction impact of selected broadband-enabled activities within households. ACEEE Report E128. American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Washington, D.C. (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  24. GeSI: Smart 2020: Enabling the low carbon economy in the information age. Global e-Sustainability Initiative, Brussels (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  25. GeSI: SMARTer 2020: The Role of ICT in Driving a Sustainable Future. Global e-Sustainability Initiative, Belgium (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Ehrhardt-Martinez, K., Donnelly, K., Laitner, J.A.S.: Advanced metering initiatives and residential feedback programs: a meta-review for household electricity-saving opportunities. ACEEE Research Report E105, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Washington, D.C. (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Huber, M.Z., Hilty, L.M.: Gamification and sustainable consumption: overcoming the limitations of persuasive technologies. In: Hilty, L.M., Aebischer, B. (eds.) ICT Innovations for Sustainability. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol. 310, pp. 367–385. Springer, Switzerland (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Laitner, J.A.S.: Semiconductors and information technologies: the power of productivity. J. Ind. Ecol. 14(5), 692–695 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. California Air Resources Board, Market Advisory Committee: Recommendations for designing a greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system for California, (2007). http://www.energy.ca.gov/2007publications/ARB-1000-2007-007/ARB-1000-2007-007.PDF. Accessed 31 May 2014

  30. Murtishaw, S., Sathaye, J.: Quantifying the effect of the principal-agent problem on U.S. Residential Energy Use, Rep. No.LBNL-59773. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, LBNL, Berkeley (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Levinson, A., Niemann, S.: Energy use by tenants when landlords pay for utilities. Resour. Energy Econ. 26(1), 51–75 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Levine, M.D., Koomey, J.G., McMahon, J.E., Sanstad, A.H., Hirst, E.: Energy efficiency policy and market failures. Annu. Rev. Energy Env. 20, 535–555 (1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Brown, M.A.: Market failures and barriers as a basis for clean energy policies. Energy Policy 29(14), 1197–1207 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Geller, H.S., Harrington, P., Arthur, H., Satoshi Tanishima, R., Unander, F.: Policies for increasing energy efficiency: Thirty years of experience in OECD countries. Energy Policy 34, 556–573 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Brown, M.A., Chandler, J., Lapsa, M.V., Ally, M.: Making homes part of the climate solution: policy options to promote energy efficiency, Report No. ORNL/TM-2009/104. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Oak Ridge (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  36. Hanson, D.A., Laitner, J.A.S.: An integrated analysis of policies that increase investments in advanced energy-efficient/low-carbon technologies. Energy Econ. 26, 739–755 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Gossart, C.: Rebound effects and ICT: a review of the literature. In: Hilty, L.M., Aebischer, B. (eds.) ICT Innovations for Sustainability. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol. 310, pp. 435–448. Springer, Switzerland (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  38. Ehrhardt-Martinez, K., Laitner, J.A.: Rebound, technology and people: mitigating the rebound effect with energy-resource management and people-centered initiatives. In: Proceedings of the 2010 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Washington, D.C. (2010)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Economic and Human Dimensions Research Associates, Tucson, AZ, USA

    John A. Skip Laitner

Authors
  1. John A. Skip Laitner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John A. Skip Laitner .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Informatics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Lorenz M. Hilty

  2. Zurich, Switzerland

    Bernard Aebischer

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this paper

Cite this paper

Laitner, J.A.S. (2015). The Energy Efficiency Benefits and the Economic Imperative of ICT-Enabled Systems. In: Hilty, L., Aebischer, B. (eds) ICT Innovations for Sustainability. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 310. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09228-7_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09228-7_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-09227-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-09228-7

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation