ICT technologies have had a huge positive impact on our fight against global warming by resource efficiency, optimized industrial processes, remote meetings and smart energy systems. Yet, the ICT sector is a large consumer of energy to power the data centers and networks and uses rare earth minerals in device manufacturing. Resource usage of ICT is rather hidden from end users. The ICA-project studies this complex system. We seek to understand the real, measurable ICT growth trends and how this affects the need for energy. We study ways to lower the impact of the sector on the delivery of services and to contribute towards sustainable societies. Here the focus is on reusing the excess heat emerging from data centers and communication equipment (like 5G base stations), and on designing more lightweight Internet services. We also seek to raise awareness and empower and engage the various stakeholders to better understand the situation and minimize the impact of ICT on global warming.

2021

2024