CIO OPINION
Gates and a who ’ s-who of tech billionaires founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures , a US $ 2billion fund investing in clean energy tech and innovation .
In Canada , we ’ re rightly going all in on Tech for Sustainability , as in the government ’ s A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy strategy and investment in Sustainable Development Technology Canada . A recent example is our Minister of Natural Resources ’ announcement that NRCan will collaborate with Microsoft on using Artificial Intelligence to improve electric vehicle grid readiness . Many corporations with climate commitments are investing in technology solutions . And excellent Canadian cleantech companies are meeting the challenge .
Sustainable Tech
Sustainable Tech , on the other hand , asks us to mitigate technology ’ s negative environmental impacts through our IT operations and purchasing decisions . Definitions and calculations vary , but some academics estimate that digital energy consumption has been increasing by as much as 9 % per year , versus 1.5 % growth of overall energy consumption . They project that digital technology ’ s contribution to GHG emissions – the Paris Agreement ’ s focus – could double by 2025 , reaching 8 %.
For companies , adopting Sustainable Tech means peering under the hood and tracking energy consumption across the life cycle of data centers , networks and devices . The growth drivers for data center and network service demand are evident : exploding data volumes from streaming , Artificial Intelligence , Blockchain , 5G , Internet of Things , Virtual Reality and other digital technologies . For devices and hardware , by contrast , manufacturing and transportation cause most of the environmental impact . One analysis concluded that more than 90 % of a smartphone ’ s total life cycle energy is consumed before it is even unboxed .
Many of these effects can be mitigated . This is where Tech for Sustainability can lend a hand – such as using AI to improve data center efficiency . For data centers , the transition to cloud and hyperscale data centers as well as efficiency upgrades to hardware – improving
One analysis concluded that more than 90 % of a smartphone ’ s total life cycle energy is consumed before it is even unboxed .
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