The ITU-T newslog featured the following entry last Friday:
Senior technical experts have laid down the gauntlet on energy saving in information and communication technologies (ICTs) following a recent meeting in Geneva. Following tutorials on power saving, at a February meeting of ITU-T’s Study Group 15, experts agreed to work towards a proposed percentage reduction of power consumption in broadband technologies. The aim is for the agreed figure to form part of a Resolution from the upcoming World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly. Reduction of power consumption should and can be done without the degradation of services according to experts.
The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon has also underlined ITU’s role here saying: "ITU is one of the very important stakeholders in the area of climate change." ITU representatives made a statement at the UN Conference on Climate Change in, illustrating how ICTs are both a cause and a potential cure for climate change.
Speaking during the event attended by over 100 representatives from the ICT industry worldwide for each of its three, hour-long sessions, the Deputy Secretary-General of ITU, Houlin Zhao expressed appreciation that the meetings had proven so popular at such an early stage of the work. He pointed out that ICTs are responsible for 2.5 per cent of carbon emissions. This is roughly the equivalent of the airline industry and would require our urgent attention, he said.
The issue of power saving will be discussed within the wider context of climate change at ITU Symposia on ICTs and Climate Change to be held 15-16 April 2008 in Kyoto (Japan) and hosted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and 17-18 June 2008 in London (Great Britain) and hosted by British Telecom. The events are part of a new initiative by ITU to better understand how ICTs can help mitigate and adapt to climate change as well as monitoring its impact.
Experts speaking at the SG 15 tutorials pointed to inefficiencies in terms of end-device power consumption level compared to the signal power. The deployment of passive optical network (PON) technology is of particular concern as operators worldwide rollout this new technology that some predict will massively increase power demands. Some simple measures, for example specifying power saving modes in network terminations such as: ‘asleep’, ‘standby’, as well as ‘on’ and ‘off’, were cited by speakers. It was also noted that next-generation networks (NGN) can lower greenhouse gas emissions by reducing network complexity, and introducing equipment that is more tolerant to natural climatic conditions and therefore does not require air conditioning. Smart buildings, energy supply and transport industries must all play their part in achieving greenhouse gas reductions.
A first and completed task of the ITU experts has been to create a power saving checklist for standards authors. Malcolm Johnson, Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, ITU congratulated SG 15 for responding so quickly to the request to address climate change. He urged all Study Groups to start the process of reviewing their Recommendations (ITU’s name for standards) according to the new checklist and assign appropriate metrics regarding reduction of greenhouse gases.
The checklist is intended to ensure that standards are drafted taking into account the most economic and energy-efficient solution, particularly related to energy saving in networks. Experts propose that each new ITU-T Recommendation should contain a clause that identifies its impact on climate change and demonstrates ways that it contributes towards emission reduction, covering both production and the use of the equipment.
To ensure that this work is completed with the highest degree of efficiency there is broad consensus that ITU action has to be taken into account collaborating in partnerships with other bodies working in the field and that everything is done to avoid duplication of work.
For activities carrying out in ITU's Telecommunication Development Sector on ICTs and climate change and e-environment, click here.