Broadband Deployment Could Cut Global Carbon Emissions, Industry Officials Say
Policymakers should promote broadband deployment to help reduce global carbon emissions, industry officials said on a Freedom to Connect conference panel Tuesday. Broadband at very fast speeds reduces business travel and promotes e- commerce, they said. “We are not going to reach the kind of efficiencies I believe we can reach without high-speed broadband networks that are hooked up to our homes and communities,” said Kathy Brown, a Verizon senior vice president.
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The Internet industry creates 2 percent of global CO2 emissions, said Brown, and while Verizon and the industry are working to reduce the figure, an interim goal is to use broadband to reduce the other 98 percent, she said. Broadband enables better telecommuting and teleconferencing, as well as e-conservation and e-commerce, she said. “I'm not suggesting broadband by itself solves the [environmental] problem,” but it “can be used as a tool.” Kevin Moss, BT corporate responsibility vice president, concurred: “Rather than wait for a hydrogen engine or a car to work from air,” the world should look to broadband to reduce carbon emissions today.
Traditional business culture has slowed teleconferencing growth, panelists said. Traveling may have a cultural importance for businesses “so deeply rooted that it’s going to take time to change it altogether,” said Bas Boorsma, head of Cisco’s Connected Urban Development program. Traveling is an aspect of company prestige, Moss agreed. But the Internet industry still has a responsibility to teach customers how they can reduce their carbon imprint through communications technology, he said. And cultural tradition may be countered by climbing fuel prices, said Brown.
Low audio-visual quality has also discouraged videoconferencing, Brown said. But Verizon is testing a 20 Mbps upstream and downstream FiOS approach that will dramatically increase videoconference audio-visual quality, she said. A new high-definition videoconferencing application from Cisco called TelePresence may also help overcome business resistance, she said. Cisco has deployed 190 TelePresence facilities worldwide, saving $75 million in avoided travel, Boorsma said.
Broadband also promotes conservation, Brown said. Downloading books and music cuts the use of plastics and other materials, she said. Meanwhile, e-commerce saves gas consumers use to buy physical products, she said. It takes a tenth of the gas for an Internet store to ship a package 100 miles than for one consumer to drive 20 miles round trip to the mall, because the shipping truck carries many customers’ packages, she said.