Electricity Intensity of Internet Data Transmission: Untangling the Estimates

Aslan, Joshua; Mayers, Kieren; Koomey, Jonathan; France, Chris

doi:10.1111/jiec.12630

Cited by 135 publications

(98 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…58, min. 26) 3 . We logged the source and destination IP addresses and bytes transferred, and used logged DNS and DHCP requests to map each flow to human readable domains and participants' devices.…”

Section: Methods and Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Streaming, Multi-Screens and YouTube

Widdicks

Hazas

Bates

et al. 2019

Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

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Internet use and online services underpin everyday life, and the resultant energy demand is almost entirely hidden, yet significant and growing: it is anticipated to reach 21% of global electricity demand by 2030 and to eclipse half the greenhouse gas emissions of transportation by 2040. Driving this growth, real-time video streaming ('watching') is estimated at around 50% of all peak data traffic. Using a mixed-methods analysis of the use of 66 devices (e.g. smart TVs, tablets) across 20 participants in 9 households, we reveal the online activity of domestic watching and provide a detailed exploration of video-on-demand activities. We identify new ways in which watching is transitioning in more rather than less data demanding directions; and explore the role HCI may play in reducing this growing data demand. We further highlight implications for key HCI and societal stakeholders (policy makers, service providers, network engineers) to tackle this important issue.

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Section: Methods and Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There has been much discussion and dispute on the actual environmental impacts of the Internet [2,3,8,41,61,62,70]. Yet, technology efficiency gains are quickly overtaken by the rapid growth in Internet infrastructure [51] and service consumption [52], driving rebound effects [53] ('Jevons paradox' [28]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Streaming, Multi-Screens and YouTube

Widdicks

Hazas

Bates

et al. 2019

Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

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“…The growth in "data demand" and "online services" [50] has implications for the environment due to the subsequent growth in the underlying Internet infrastructure (data centres, communication networks, end-user devices). Estimates of the actual environmental footprint of this vary massively; and there is certainly much dispute as to how significant the problem of data demand actually is [3,52,76]. However, it has been argued that by 2030, 21% of our global electricity use is expected to be due to ICT [1]; and by 2040, ICT may even exceed half the global greenhouse gas emissions of the current transport sector today [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breaking the Cornucopian Paradigm

Widdicks

Pargman

2019

Proceedings of the Fifth Workshop on Computing Within Limits

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The Internet and digital devices are increasingly embedded in our everyday lives. The hidden environmental impacts of this infrastructure are substantial and quietly growing at an increasing rate. Our collective Internet use is following a 'Cornucopian paradigm', which is unsustainable. And yet, while intentionally limiting our online connectivity might be seen negatively as a retrograde step, in this paper, we offer ways in which users might welcome attempts to moderate their Internet use through improving four aspects of our digitally-mediated lives: relationships, digital wellbeing, productivity at work, and online privacy. Given these areas, we discuss how our research agenda may realistically be facilitated and what challenges we may face in moving from the reinforcement of 'business as usual' trends. By investigating and developing user-centred, moderate Internet use, we can 'break' the Cornucopian paradigm.

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“…Available estimates of energy intensity of the Internet have differed at most by a factor of more than 20,000, ranging from 136 kWh/gigabyte to 0.0064 kWh/gigabyte (Coroama, Schien, Preist, & Hilty, 2015). A large variety within the results has been explained by differences in system boundaries, applied assumptions and year to which the data applies (Aslan et al, 2017).…”

Section: Role Of Mobile Access Network In the Value Chain Of Electromentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In previous studies, several estimates about the electricity intensity of Internet data transmission have been presented and thoroughly analyzed (See: Aslan, Mayers, Koomey, & France, 2017;Schien & Preist, 2014). Electricity intensity in this context has most often been defined as energy consumed per amount of transmitted data (e.g.…”

Section: Estimation Of Mobile Operators' Energy Consumption In Finlandmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy consumption of mobile data transfer – Increasing or decreasing? Evaluating the impact of technology development & user behavior

Pihkola¹,

Hongisto²,

Apilo³

et al.

EPiC Series in Computing

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Mobile data consumption in Finland is among the highest in the world. Increase in mobile data usage has been rapid and continuous growth is foreseen. While the energy consumed per transmitted gigabyte has substantially decreased, it seems that the absolute annual energy consumption related to mobile operators' activities has started to increase. Simultaneously, consumer behavior is changing. While new end-user devices are more and more energy-efficient, we use more and more time with mobile devices. Is increasing usage outweighing achieved energy savings? What kinds of options are available for tackling increasing energy demand? This paper discusses current and future trends related to energy consumption of mobile data transfer and mobile networks in Finland. Using a top-down approach and publicly available data, an illustrative trend (kWh/gigabyte) for the energy consumption of transmitted mobile data was constructed for the years 2010-2016. In addition, energy consumption related to mobile data transfer is discussed from a life cycle perspective, considering both direct and indirect energy use and challenges in conducting such assessments. Contributions of relevant technological and social developments (radio network technology transformations from 4G to 5G and consumer behavior) are analyzed considering possible trade-offs and pointing out aspects that require future studies.

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Electricity Intensity of Internet Data Transmission: Untangling the Estimates

Cited by 135 publications

References 21 publications

Streaming, Multi-Screens and YouTube

Streaming, Multi-Screens and YouTube

Breaking the Cornucopian Paradigm

Energy consumption of mobile data transfer – Increasing or decreasing? Evaluating the impact of technology development & user behavior

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