Using our products to reduce climate impact
Our products and services can be used to save carbon dioxide emissions in a number of ways, such as reducing the need for travel and creating intelligent energy management systems. These carbon reductions will potentially outweigh the operational impact of the telecommunications industry in the future.
The Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) (of which Vodafone is a member), together with The Climate Group, has published research on the predicted carbon footprint of the ICT industry in 2020 and its potential to reduce emissions from other sectors.
The Smart2020 report estimates that emissions from the ICT industry will increase to 2.8% of global emissions in 2020. But technology from the ICT sector could help other industries and consumers avoid 7.8 gigatonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions: 15% of predicted total global emissions.
The biggest opportunities to achieve this were identified as:
- smart motor systems – reducing electricity consumption in industry
- smart logistics – coordinating logistics processes
- smart buildings – making living and working spaces more efficient
- smart grids – improving transmission and distribution of electricity
- dematerialisation – substituting objects and activities with high environmental impacts with virtual alternatives.
Vodafone supports a range of service providers who offer ‘Machine to Machine’ (M2M) services, which enable one machine to remotely communicate with another, improving energy management. We facilitate the use of meters that are monitored remotely and in-car technology that helps drivers avoid traffic jams by providing traffic information in real time. We will focus on developing M2M services to help business customers reduce their carbon emissions in the future.
Our products and services also facilitate video and teleconferencing, which help customers reduce their climate impact by replacing the need for travel. See Transport for more information on how Vodafone employees are putting this into practice.