IT systems currently account for about 2% of global GHG emissions (Photo: Flickr)

According to a new McKinsey & Company analysis, the energy required to power all of the world’s computers, data storage, and communications networks is expected to double by 2020. The rise in emissions is mainly due to greater Internet use in China and India, where coal-fired power plants generate most of the countries’ energy. China accounted for 23% of global emissions related to information technology (IT) last year. North America’s office technology caused a quarter of the world’s IT related emissions in 2002, but China is now the world leader in both overall greenhouse gas emissions and emissions from IT. Worldwide, IT systems’ emissions were equivalent to the annual CO₂ emissions from more than a half-billion automobiles.

China and the world’s emerging economies, including India, Brazil and Indonesia, are expected to increase their IT emissions 9% annually. According to the McKinsey study, the world’s 30.3 million servers and other IT systems now account for about 2% of global emissions, and by 2020, IT would be the cause of 1.54 gigatons (billion tons) of greenhouse gases, or 3% of global emissions. If these calculations are accurate, the carbon footprint of IT would be comparable to that from aviation.

According to McKinsey, however, various mitigation strategies could help to eliminate 7.8 metric gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions annually by 2020 - equivalent to 15% of global emissions today and five times more than McKinsey’s estimate for emissions from these technologies in 2020. Potential improvements include increased server consolidation, advanced data center cooling systems and software that cut servers’ energy use when demand is low. The McKinsey study also noted that “Smart controls” - sensors that monitor and help avoid unnecessary electricity usage - can help to curb emissions.

• Read background: “Office-Related Carbon Emissions Surge,” by Ben Block, Worldwatch.org (10/31/08)
• Related: “Google Plans Water-Based Data Centers” (Power Plug, 10/9/08)
• Related: “Percentage of Large Companies Planning to Modify Data Centers in Response to Rising Energy Costs” (e-Newswire, 9/17/08)