Reducing online data storage
Research commissioned by members of the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (including Vodafone) and The Climate Group demonstrates that the potential of telecommunications technology to reduce customers’ climate impacts outweigh the impact of using the technology itself. More sophisticated features such as videoconferencing require more energy than a normal phone call, transferring large amounts of data, but emissions from this increased energy use is significantly less than the equivalent from travelling to a face-to-face meeting.
This does mean more data needs to be stored. Data storage is the fastest growing part of the carbon footprint of the ICT industry, increasing at a rate of 56% a year. We are committed to minimising this impact.
In 2007/08, we consolidated our data centres, reducing the total number from 12 to two main hubs plus a smaller satellite station. This has increased efficiency and cut the growth in online storage.
However, we recognise there is still work to do. Further improvements could be made to data centre design. These possibilities require further analysis, and changes to purchasing practices across the industry to take account of the total cost of running equipment rather than just initial costs.
Vodafone is driving change across the industry, as a founding member of a working group to define a Code of Conduct for data centres in the EU. The Code of Conduct is a voluntary initiative designed to co-ordinate industry activity on energy efficiency in data centres, raise awareness and promote best practice.