Ademe and Arcep want to raise awareness among public authorities and the population, saying that if nothing is done, the carbon footprint of digital technology could triple by 2050.
Invited by the Ministry of Ecology to carry out a study on the environmental footprint of digital technology in France by 2030 then 2050, Ademe (Agency for the environment and energy management) and the Arcep (the telecommunications regulator) unveiled rather alarming results on Monday. The two agencies, which recognize the interest of digital in the implementation of the ecological transition, also estimate that it could see its carbon footprint triple between 2020 and 2050. In 2020, the digital carbon footprint weighed for 2, 5% of France’s total emissions.
The sharp increase in data traffic and the number of devices would lead to an explosion in the digital carbon footprint
If no concrete measures are taken to reduce the environmental footprint of digital technology in France, this should increase by 45% by 2030. This sharp increase would then be partly due to data traffic (multiplied by 6 between 2020 and 2030) and more and more equipment (+65% compared to 2020). Electricity consumption would also increase by 5%, to reach 54 TWh/a…
The situation is even worse for the “after”. Ademe and Arcep indicate that by not changing anything, the carbon footprint of digital technology could triple between 2020 and 2050. The reduction of impacts in certain sectors (such as mobility) made possible by technological progress would not make it possible to compensate the explosion in the consumption of electricity and resources.
” To achieve the objective of the Paris Agreement in 2050, digital technology must play its part: a collective effort involving all stakeholders (users, terminal and equipment manufacturers, content and application providers , network and data center operators) is therefore necessary “, explain the two agencies, which offer levers of action.
Ademe opposes the scenarios and proposes action levers
One of the solutions consists of implementing so-called “digital sobriety” policies, which would involve stabilizing the number of devices and controlling new products or services. Ademe and Arcep are thinking in particular about extending the lifespan of terminals, developing the refurbished sector, raising awareness and the availability of strategic metals used to manufacture various devices and machines (computers, smartphones , televisions, data centers etc.).
Eco-design should then become the norm, and all of these levers could make it possible, according to the study, to reduce the carbon footprint of digital technology by around 16% in 2030, compared to 2020. Here, we are talking about a “sobriety” scenario.
Ademe has also designed other models and scenarios with various impacts. The “Repair bet”, for example, expects a fivefold increase in the carbon footprint by 2050 compared to 2020. Here, we favored exclusive support for technologies aimed at using more material resources to ” maintain a livable world “. Another scenario, “Frugal Generation”, which we talked about a little earlier, is working more for a transformation in the way of moving, heating, eating, buying equipment and using it, to reduce energy demand both by constraint and by sobriety. Ademe estimates that this drastic model would lead to halving the digital carbon footprint by 2050.
Source : Ademe
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