Article
Digitization — Green or Greedy?
Investigating Invisible Resources
»I will read on my handy e-book reader from now on. I will simply download a tiny harmless file. I will not buy every written piece printed with chemicals on heavy paper made of cut down trees.« Taking this decision is for sure more sustainable, right?
It’s hard to answer that question, and it requires extensive ecological accounting. You have to compare the resources that are needed within the production process, the toxicity of the used materials, the social circumstances of the involved workers, the lifespan and recycling possibilities of the object, the energy (and its source) that is used to run the device, the number of people using the analog or electronic book and so forth. Taking all these factors into account it is recommended to stick to the paper version of a book, except you are planning to read more than 30 to 60 books on the electronic counterpart within its service life.¹
The complexity of the topic becomes very clear with that example and is overwhelming. That digitalization as it is implemented now is contributing more to global warming than to reducing it is, therefore, no surprise.
The energy consumption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is increasing by 9 percent every year. [But] it is possible to limit this growth to 1.5 percent per year by moving to sober digital practices.²
The carbon transition think-tank »The Shift Project« warns, that we as a society need to be aware of the impact of our usage of ICT. If we don’t, they claim, it will reinforce the environmental harm humanity is causing — against all the promising technology-based eco-friendly future scenarios.
The expectation that we can reduce resource consumption through digitization stems from the haptic experience that one tiny technical device can run thousands of different tasks that were spread amongst various physical equipment in former times.³ But as the example of the e-book reader shows, it’s not that easy and we need to take risks seriously, even though we can’t see or feel them. The energy consumption of heavy data transfer is as real as the spread of an invisible virus.
Digitization’s Roots
In the beginnings of the internet and digitization, three stakeholders were pushing and shaping the development: military, economy, and do-gooders who dreamed to improve the world.⁴ From the 1950s to the 1970s computer sciences were mostly financed by U.S. military budget to be ahead of the Soviet Union and its allies in the context of the cold war.⁵ From the mid-1960s economy started to take advantage of information and communication technologies and to invest in their buildup. The biggest players in that field were banks, insurance companies, and increasingly also large industries.⁶ The focus on growth and consumption is obvious here. Parallel to this the values and ideals of the »alternative scene« shaped digital development. They were dreaming of deconstructing oppressive hierarchies, sabotaging exploitative corporate groups, and replacing capitalism with an environmentally friendly and fair economy.⁷
These roots open different future scenarios for the world wide web and the digitalization of processes. They find their use in spying techniques and control, in increasing efficiency and profit for global capitalism as well as in the strengthening of self-determination, social cooperation, and a sustainable economy.⁸ To answer the question if digitalization will develop towards monitoring, commercialization, or sustainability it is going to be particularly relevant how the political and social course is set and how every individual wants to use and benefit from the offered possibilities and infrastructure.⁹ As there is no such thing as »good« or »bad« technology it always depends on how people are using it and if they are aiming for an eco-friendly way of doing so.¹⁰
The house is on fire!
Taking into account some facts it becomes pretty obvious how important it is that every individual takes on responsibility and develops a conscious online behavior. According to a projection by the IT giant Cisco, 60 percent of the world’s population will use the Internet in 2022. And worldwide data transfer is growing by more than 25 percent a year, Cisco predicts.¹¹
In line with the statement »90 percent of all data available today was created in the past 18 months«¹² from Thomas Reimers — an industrial engineer from Windcloud, a business which operates sustainable data centers — it is not surprising that data centers already consume two percent of the total global electricity requirement. Neither, it is surprising that information and communication technology emits as much CO2 as the aviation industry, 830 million tons of CO2, to be precise. These shocking numbers appear (also) because the immense and steadily increasing power consumption of web technologies is mainly fed by coal.¹³
According to a report by »Climate Home News«, data production could account for 20 percent of the world’s electricity needs by 2025.¹⁴ By 2030, it should already require a third of the world’s electricity generation.¹⁵
This massive increase is reinforced by a classic rebound effect. As the devices become more and more efficient and technology develops in a more sustainable direction, the demands of the users become more and more energy-intensive. In 2011, a website had an average size of around 800 kilobytes, in 2015 it was 2.5 megabytes and in 2018 around 3.5 megabytes — extreme cases are even 5 to 8 megabytes!¹⁶ In other words, processors and smartphones provide more and more computing power with lower energy consumption and are theoretically more ecological while more and more people are now using more and more energy-intensive services at the same time.¹⁷
As users are not aware of these problems because the wastage of data is nothing tangible and people were told digitalization would be the clean way of consuming, legal frameworks need to be implemented — especially considering big industries, not only individuals.
Powerful players in the digital field need to be held responsible for their actions. Greenpeace criticizes for example »Amazon«, one of these giants who are not achieving their ambitious climate goals and is focusing on fossil fuels to operate its data centers. Now, as the AI-controlled voice assistant software »Alexa« is integrated into more and more devices and more and more companies (including Deutsche Bahn and VW) are outsourcing their IT to the Amazon cloud,¹⁸ this negligence will cause serious damage as long as politics stay inactive.
The stick and the carrot?
Nevertheless, state instruments must not interfere too much with people’s freedom of information. One possible scenario to regulate data transfer and consumption would be to start with the bandwidths or the data volumes. A few gigabytes could be offered cheap, after that taxation rises progressively. With that approach, it would be up to everyone themselves whether they want to afford the funny cat video on YouTube or not.¹⁹
Furthermore, the consumption of energy needs to be adapted to its availability. People need to be motivated to use energy when it can be provided from sustainable sources. Meaning that energy should be cheaper when there is enough sun or wind. But, a flexible energy pricing system is a very complex thing and in turn, needs sophisticated digitalization.²⁰
To further create awareness for the problem, it is necessary to make it measurable. But without losing sight of the number of uses and the consequences. For example, energy-intensive processes like driving assistance systems in cars can only be evaluated regarding the number of uses. If a digital driving assistant prevents just one accident of its multiple users, it can save more resources, than it consumes by calculating and communicating.²¹
How far the federal government can intervene legally in these complex matters remains to be seen. Forbidding questionable tech gadgets like the »interactive refrigerator« or the »networked trash can« is hardly feasible. But it is for sure unlikely that digitization will be ecological and sustainable without a strict legal framework. The federal government needs to follow up urgently with ideas on how to set up useful laws in favor of an eco-friendly future of web technology. We as a society, including the democratically elected leaders, are just starting to even think about the arising problems within the topic of energy consumption through digitization and digitalization.
The topic of Bitcoin can serve as a clear example. The cryptocurrency uses as much energy as entire countries. Nevertheless, a benefit for society is barely visible. How politics can have an impact on development needs to be figured out — the sooner the better. The lack of transparency is the main problem here. It is extremely difficult to have restrictions on how much energy can be used for what purpose.²²
We’re on it
The positive news is that first efforts in the right direction exist on the level of big industries as well as on the level of policymaking. Innovative entrepreneurs already show how it can be done.
For example, Windcloud’s data centers will even absorb CO2 soon. The unused waste heat from the North Frisian servers is to be used to grow microalgae in a nearby facility. These organisms bind CO2 during growth and are a valuable source of nutrients. Waste heat from data centers can make such processes profitable, but to make the most out of it a rethink towards efficient cycles is needed.²³ Some companies that you may not have in mind first when it comes to sustainability, such as Facebook, Apple, and Google, already cover more than half of their energy needs from renewable energy sources. Also, Google, for example, with its subsidiary DeepMind, has used AI to develop an intelligent control system that reduces the energy consumption of its data centers by 40 percent, according to company information.²⁴
Other key figures that play an important role in the field of data traffic are streaming service providers. Ideas from experts include changing the design of the platforms. Functions like »autoplay« and integrated videos simply have their right to exist by maximizing the consumption of moving image contents. Another leverage would be to make the cooling systems of servers more efficient. Tests are running, attempting to cool the data centers with water instead of air,²⁵ which could potentially be used to heat a nearby building in winter. Here we catch up on the previously mentioned ideas of efficient cycles. The probably biggest challenge is the exclusive use of renewable energies, which needs to be provided through infrastructural changes.
Svenja Schulze, German Federal Environment Minister furthermore claims a need for regulations tackling the sustainability of algorithms. Which ultimately means they must be working as efficiently as possible. Software design must take energy consumption into account from the start.²⁶
What you can do now
However, since we are far from any actual government restrictions, individual engagement is required. We urgently need to be more »digital modest« again.²⁷ Even though digitalization makes many procedures faster and easier, we as a society become dependent on it.
Our current addiction is »convenience«. As long as we don’t give up that privilege, technology won’t solve our problems.²⁸
The first thing we can do is to reduce our data consumption via mobile transmission. That is — due to free space loss, buildings, vegetation, and weather — the lossiest form of data transfer. Therefore high transmission power is necessary. But the signal also has to be amplified when old copper cables are used, especially over long distances. The problem here is that around half of the energy used for data transmission is transformed to heat, hence represents waste. At this point, the most efficient technology is transmitting signals by light via fiber-optic-cables.²⁹
Another huge energy hog consists of online videos. An incredible amount of 300 million tons of CO2 were generated by people watching online videos in 2018. That is one percent of total global greenhouse emissions — roughly the same as the entire country of Spain produces.³⁰
It is obvious, we have to adopt a more conscious use of technology. The problem is, that we don’t sense the resources we are exhausting while streaming. We don’t see the data center’s costs on our private electricity bill, which are generated to run all the servers that provide us with a high-resolution fireplace stream, available around the clock to flicker on our huge screens in our living rooms.
One possible adjustment in dealing with streaming is the screen size. It takes less energy to watch on a smartphone than on a big screen.³¹
Another thing you can do is to reduce quality. It is not always necessary to stream in 8k quality. Some numbers to frame this: it takes around 8 to 15 gigabytes per film, watching HD, 20 to 25 gigabytes, choosing Blu-ray, and more than 100 gigabytes for 4k-movies. Forecasts for 3D-movies and virtual reality animations claim a significant increase of 40 times more data per streaming minute.³²
To question yourself if you really want to watch this video can save resources as well. Just stop watching, if you don’t like the movie or series. The last tip concerning streaming tackles other problems in society as well: include digital detox in your everyday life. Or at least focus on one thing. It is not recommendable to watch a movie, chat, and scroll through your Instagram feed at the same time. You could frame this as awareness of your digital behavior.³³
Streaming music is another thing. It is suggested to not listen to music all the time. As these behavioral patterns are hard to leave it is more likely to choose the streaming platform wisely. If you listen to music via YouTube you always load a video at the same time, which unnecessarily drives up the data transfer.³⁴ Although YouTube is the winner when it comes to sustainable video streaming. In Greenpeace’s »Clicking Glean« study from 2017 YouTube performed best in the field of video. It received the rating A because the service provider purchases 56 percent clean energy. Amazon Prime received rating C, Netflix rating D for their carbon footprint. iTunes performed particularly well among music providers, receiving the grade A with a »Clean Energy Index« of 83 percent. This is calculated from the company’s total electricity consumption and the share of electricity from renewable energies. Spotify received the grade D, Soundcloud the grade F.³⁵
As there is a lack of controlling mechanisms for users, The Green Web Foundation developed a tool to check if any website is powered by green electricity. You simply have to enter the URL you are interested in and you will be provided with the information.³⁶
Your browsing behavior can help towards greening the web as well. The technology of »lazy loading« for example, in which only the content that is currently shown on the screen is loaded, saves energy. According to Stefan Kruijer, a freelance scientist and web developer who is involved in the Scientists for Future Initiative, over 50 percent of the data that is transferred when a website is accessed is not used and therefore unnecessary. If you use the »Save Data« browser mode websites are displayed in reduced form.
In regards to that designers and developers can have an impact on what a reduced version should look like. Instead of relying on a proxy that automatically calculates websites, they can choose to go with low-resolution images, they can define that there are no web fonts used and fewer cookies, less tracking and ads stop harassing the users.³⁷
Furthermore, you can avoid search queries if you know the precise web address.³⁸ Every unnecessary request is a waste of server performance.
When it comes to technical equipment it is recommended to »buy the least powerful equipment possible, change them as rarely as possible, and reduce unnecessary energy-intensive uses.«³⁹
Taking into account that on average 45 percent of the energy that is dedicated to one device is already used for producing it,⁴⁰ staying with one device longer than we are used to it now seems to be a wise decision.
Since cloud storage also eats energy due to its 24-hour availability, it is particularly advisable to declutter digitally and delete data that is no longer needed.⁴¹ You know the case: keeping 10 digital images of the same situation on your smartphone — just because.
Selecting a green provider for your email account or website can be an option as well. Posteo or mailbox.org are recommended ones.⁴² This goes hand in hand with choosing sustainable hosting platforms that get their electricity from renewable energies.⁴³
The online world is not black and white either
Despite the currently not very sustainable performance of Information and Communication Technologies we have to keep in mind the internet can and does also contribute to climate protection.
»The transition of old industries and services to the internet has the potential to save 8 billion tons of CO2 by 2020, more than counterbalancing the projected 1.4 billion ton 2020 internet footprint.«⁴⁴
Well-known examples are replacing business travel with teleconferencing, using sharing services like Airbnb, and various car-providers. Of course, they all have »the other side of the coin« but all-in-all have good intentions, as we can witness with the rising number of startups, »all focused on spreading ownership amongst communities, thus reducing consumption.«⁴⁵, which is probably the most efficient way to save resources.
Further Readings
- Kirst, Nina (2019). Hungriges Web. Page, 12.19
- Lange, Steffen und Santarius, Tilman (2018). Smarte grüne Welt? Digitalisierung zwischen Überwachung, Konsum und Nachhaltigkeit. oekom verlag, Munich
- Sandbichler, Rebecca (2020). Digitaler Rausch. Schrot & Korn, 02.20
Web
- https://alistapart.com/article/sustainable-web-design
- https://www.coresystems.net/blog/difference-between-digitization-digitalization-and-digital-transformation
- https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/streaming-youtube-apps-wie-die-digitalisierung-dem-klima.724.de.html?dram:article_id=453448
- https://www.dw.com/de/co2-aussto%C3%9F-von-online-video-streaming-als-klima-killer/a-49469109
- https://www.spektrum.de/news/kuenstliche-intelligenz-verbraucht-fuer-den-lernprozess-unvorstellbar-viel-energie/1660246
- https://taz.de/Stromverbrauch-von-Streamingdiensten/!5645979/
- https://theshiftproject.org/en/article/lean-ict-our-new-report/
- https://utopia.de/ratgeber/streaming-dienste-klima-netflix-co2/
Footnotes
¹ Lange, Steffen und Santarius, Tilman (2018). Smarte grüne Welt? Digitalisierung zwischen Überwachung, Konsum und Nachhaltigkeit. oekom verlag, Munich, Page 30
² https://theshiftproject.org/en/article/lean-ict-our-new-report/ (last accessed 17.02.2020)
³ Lange, Steffen und Santarius, Tilman (2018). Smarte grüne Welt? Digitalisierung zwischen Überwachung, Konsum und Nachhaltigkeit. oekom verlag, Munich, Page 29
⁴ Lange, Steffen und Santarius, Tilman (2018). Smarte grüne Welt? Digitalisierung zwischen Überwachung, Konsum und Nachhaltigkeit. oekom verlag, Munich, Page 14
⁵ Lange, Steffen und Santarius, Tilman (2018). Smarte grüne Welt? Digitalisierung zwischen Überwachung, Konsum und Nachhaltigkeit. oekom verlag, Munich, Page 15
⁶ Lange, Steffen und Santarius, Tilman (2018). Smarte grüne Welt? Digitalisierung zwischen Überwachung, Konsum und Nachhaltigkeit. oekom verlag, Munich, Page 16
⁷ Lange, Steffen und Santarius, Tilman (2018). Smarte grüne Welt? Digitalisierung zwischen Überwachung, Konsum und Nachhaltigkeit. oekom verlag, Munich, Page 17
⁸ Lange, Steffen und Santarius, Tilman (2018). Smarte grüne Welt? Digitalisierung zwischen Überwachung, Konsum und Nachhaltigkeit. oekom verlag, Munich, Page 17
⁹ Lange, Steffen und Santarius, Tilman (2018). Smarte grüne Welt? Digitalisierung zwischen Überwachung, Konsum und Nachhaltigkeit. oekom verlag, Munich, Page 19
¹⁰ Sandbichler, Rebecca (2020). Digitaler Rausch. Schrot & Korn, 02.20, Page 40
¹¹ https://www.dw.com/de/co2-aussto%C3%9F-von-online-video-streaming-als-klima-killer/a-49469109 (last accessed 02.03.2020)
¹² Sandbichler, Rebecca (2020). Digitaler Rausch. Schrot & Korn, 02.20, Page 39
¹³ Kirst, Nina (2019). Hungriges Web. Page, 12.19, Page 48
¹⁴ https://www.spektrum.de/news/kuenstliche-intelligenz-verbraucht-fuer-den-lernprozess-unvorstellbar-viel-energie/1660246 (last accessed 17.02.2020)
¹⁵ Sandbichler, Rebecca (2020). Digitaler Rausch. Schrot & Korn, 02.20, Page 39
¹⁶ Kirst, Nina (2019). Hungriges Web. Page, 12.19, Page 49
¹⁷ https://taz.de/Stromverbrauch-von-Streamingdiensten/!5645979/ (last accessed 02.03.2020)
¹⁸ https://www.spektrum.de/news/kuenstliche-intelligenz-verbraucht-fuer-den-lernprozess-unvorstellbar-viel-energie/1660246 (last accessed 17.02.2020)
¹⁹ Sandbichler, Rebecca (2020). Digitaler Rausch. Schrot & Korn, 02.20, Page 42
²⁰ Lange, Steffen und Santarius, Tilman (2018). Smarte grüne Welt? Digitalisierung zwischen Überwachung, Konsum und Nachhaltigkeit. oekom verlag, Munich, Page 37
²¹ https://www.spektrum.de/news/kuenstliche-intelligenz-verbraucht-fuer-den-lernprozess-unvorstellbar-viel-energie/1660246 (last accessed 17.02.2020)
²² https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/streaming-youtube-apps-wie-die-digitalisierung-dem-klima.724.de.html?dram:article_id=453448 (last accessed 02.03.2020)
²³ Sandbichler, Rebecca (2020). Digitaler Rausch. Schrot & Korn, 02.20, Page 42
²⁴ https://www.spektrum.de/news/kuenstliche-intelligenz-verbraucht-fuer-den-lernprozess-unvorstellbar-viel-energie/1660246 (last accessed 17.02.2020)
²⁵ https://utopia.de/ratgeber/streaming-dienste-klima-netflix-co2/ (last accessed 02.03.2020)
²⁶ https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/streaming-youtube-apps-wie-die-digitalisierung-dem-klima.724.de.html?dram:article_id=453448 (last accessed 02.03.2020)
²⁷ https://www.dw.com/de/co2-aussto%C3%9F-von-online-video-streaming-als-klima-killer/a-49469109 (last accessed 02.03.2020)
²⁸ Sandbichler, Rebecca (2020). Digitaler Rausch. Schrot & Korn, 02.20, Page 40
²⁹ https://www.dw.com/de/co2-aussto%C3%9F-von-online-video-streaming-als-klima-killer/a-49469109 (last accessed 02.03.2020)
³⁰ Kirst, Nina (2019). Hungriges Web. Page, 12.19, Page 49
³¹ https://taz.de/Stromverbrauch-von-Streamingdiensten/!5645979/ (last accessed 02.03.2020)
³² Lange, Steffen und Santarius, Tilman (2018). Smarte grüne Welt? Digitalisierung zwischen Überwachung, Konsum und Nachhaltigkeit. oekom verlag, Munich, Page 33
³³ https://utopia.de/ratgeber/streaming-dienste-klima-netflix-co2/ (last accessed 02.03.2020)
³⁴ https://utopia.de/ratgeber/streaming-dienste-klima-netflix-co2/ (last accessed 02.03.2020)
³⁵ https://utopia.de/ratgeber/streaming-dienste-klima-netflix-co2/ (last accessed 02.03.2020)
³⁶ Kirst, Nina (2019). Hungriges Web. Page, 12.19, Page 48–49
³⁷ Kirst, Nina (2019). Hungriges Web. Page, 12.19, Page 50
³⁸ Sandbichler, Rebecca (2020). Digitaler Rausch. Schrot & Korn, 02.20, Page 38
³⁹ https://theshiftproject.org/en/article/lean-ict-our-new-report/ (last accessed 17.02.2020)
⁴⁰ https://theshiftproject.org/en/article/lean-ict-our-new-report/ (last accessed 17.02.2020)
⁴¹ Sandbichler, Rebecca (2020). Digitaler Rausch. Schrot & Korn, 02.20, Page 38
⁴² Sandbichler, Rebecca (2020). Digitaler Rausch. Schrot & Korn, 02.20, Page 38
⁴³ Kirst, Nina (2019). Hungriges Web. Page, 12.19, Page 48
⁴⁴ https://alistapart.com/article/sustainable-web-design/ (last accessed 17.02.2020)
⁴⁵ https://alistapart.com/article/sustainable-web-design/ (last accessed 17.02.2020)
