More ICT firms join EU drive to cut energy use

Citation

(2011), "More ICT firms join EU drive to cut energy use", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 22 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/meq.2011.08322aab.002

More ICT firms join EU drive to cut energy use

Article Type: News From: Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Volume 22, Issue 1

Six major providers of information and communication technology (ICT) equipment and services have signed the EU’s voluntary code to reduce the energy consumption of their data centres, bringing the total number of participants to 32. The announcement was made by the European Commission. ICT companies signing up to the code are expected to apply a series of best practices. The code was launched in 2008. Additional recommendations were made in 2010. New signatories include telecom firms Belgacom (Belgium) and France Telecom-Orange (France). These companies and eight other ICT firms also signed a voluntary code of conduct for broadband equipment launched in 2007, bringing the number of participants to 20. The code sets maximum energy use standards.

Respectively, broadband equipment and data centres are responsible for about 15 and 18 per cent of the ICT sector’s total energy consumption in the EU. Implementing the two codes will lead to significant reductions, according to the European Commission. In many cases, it will halve companies’ consumption, it says.