A significant number of information and communication technologies (ICT) companies have agreed to reduce their energy consumption by up to 50pc.
The announcement was made today at the ‘ICT 2010 – Digitally Driven’ event in Brussels, Belgium, where 16 ICT firms agreed to reduce the electricity consumption of their broadband equipment and data centres.
The Commission said that data centres account for roughly 18pc of the ICT sector’s energy consumption and are expected to grow faster than any other ICT technology – consuming around 56 TWh (terawatt per hour) of electricity per year.
Although a voluntary measure, 36 of Europe’s biggest ICT companies already apply the codes of conduct, the Commission said.
Codes of conduct
Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said: “The success of these codes of conduct shows industry’s recognition that innovation to boost energy efficiency is a commercial, economic and environmental priority. It is a good example of the JRC’s behind-the-scenes work to support the Europe 2020 Strategy.”
“Implementing these two codes of conduct will significantly reduce the EU’s electricity consumption and could save €4.5bn per year. I welcome this work towards a more sustainable future,” added vice-president of the European Commission for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes.
According to the Commission, broadband equipment currently accounts for around 15pc of the ICT sector’s overall energy consumption this year in the EU.
The code of conduct for broadband equipment has existed since 2007 and sets maximum power consumption for equipment, such as modems, switches, routers and home gateways.
