March 28, 2008

ACEEE FINDS ICT ENABLES CRITICAL GAINS IN ENERGY EFFICIENCY & ECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY

ACEEE released a path-breaking study, Information and Communication Technologies: The Power of Productivity, in February in conjunction with the Technology CEO Council, an IT group comprised of industry leaders including Dell. The study shows that the innovative effects of information and communications technologies (ICT) have contributed to the economy-wide reduction of U.S. energy intensity and the recent stabilization of overall levels of energy consumption. The analysis found that huge cost reductions and important new ICT innovations have worked together to drive the expansion and diffusion of new information and communications technologies without increasing overall energy consumption in the U.S. economy.

The ACEEE study provides an innovative assessment of the relationship between ICT and energy productivity as well as working estimates of the net energy impact of ICT technologies. Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez and John A. "Skip" Laitner co-authored the report, which found that ICT investments provide our society with critical tools for cost-effective energy savings; if used to maximum advantage, we can increase energy productivity, reduce energy waste, maintain a robust economy, and lower carbon emissions. In addition, the authors pose critical new questions about the relationship between ICT systems and total energy use. Rather than focusing only on the direct energy consumed by ICT, we should instead recognize the ways in which these technologies have helped our economy become dramatically more efficient.

Read the press release.

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