Benefits and impacts of IT applications: are e-commerce, telecommuting or e-learning

good for the environment?

Yves Loerincik, Swiss Institute of Technology, Lausanne

World Summit on the Information Society, December 2003

What applications of ICT are good for the environment?

What has to be taken into account?

How to promote good practices and limit the environmental impact?

• Buying software on-line

• Downloading music from the Internet

• Digital camera

• …..

Virtualisation

On-line phone book (470’000 tons a year)

Public transport timetable

On-line newspaper: what information are you looking for?

Paperless office

……

Dematerialisation

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

80000

90000

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

Thousands of tons

Source: I. Wernick, J. Ausubel

Paper consumption

e-services

• E-commerce• E-banking• Telework• Telepresence• …..

Telepresence = less travel?

e-commerce

• Save travel• Save buildings• Less stocks• …..• Green buying?

• More packaging• Rapid delivery• Access to other

market• Traffic jam• …..

Telework

• Save travel• Save buildings

Telework

But:• Do you have computers

at home and at your office?

• Do you have two offices?• What is the energy

consumption of your house?

• Do you drive more, because you save time?

• What do you do with the spare time?

• …..

Intelligent cities

Smart homes, e.g. heatingIntelligent transport systems

• Ressources management;

• Animals population management;

• Pollution control;• Deforestation

control;• Etc…

Environmental protection

-Economy for the city

- Benefits for the environment

- The monitoring system is just a tool

- http://www.crem.ch

TELEMONITORING SYSTEM, MARTIGNY

Environmental information

• E-learning• Environmental information• Networks • …..

But• All kind of information• one can’t force people….

Thank you for your attention: for more informationwww.wsis.ethz.ch

Yves.Loerincik@epfl.ch