Industry 4.0 – the enemy of climate control?

The digital economy is consuming a large and growing amount of energy. One computer workstation, if not turned off, uses roughly the same energy in a year that it takes a 25mpg car engine to travel more than 4500 miles.

In 2012, it was estimated that the computer farms that handle Internet data are responsible for up to 1.3% of electricity consumption globally, with Facebook's energy use growing particularly fast. Even back then, the company processed more than 250 million photo uploads each day.

The global ICT system includes everything from smartphones to laptops to digital TVs to — especially — the vast and electron-thirsty computer-server farms that make up the backbone of what we call “the cloud.”

It is estimated by Mills that the global ICT system now uses 1,500 terawatt-hours of power per year. That’s about 10% of the world’s total electricity generation or roughly the combined power production of Germany and Japan. This is the same amount of electricity that was used to light the entire planet in 1985. Amazingly, we already use 50% more energy to move bytes than we do to move planes in global aviation.

Perhaps even more concerning is the growth of remote digital sensors and devices that are being connected to the internet under Industry 4.0. This, according to Lancaster University researchers, has the potential to bring virtually unlimited increases in energy consumed by smart technologies. Autonomous streaming of data by 6.4 billion connected IoT devices - and it is estimated the number could reach 21 billion by 2020.

“The internet is consuming an increasing portion of global electricity supply, and this growing consumption is a significant concern in global efforts to reduce carbon emissions," says Dr Mike Hazas, senior lecturer in the university's School of Computing and Communications.

As our lives migrate progressively to the digital cloud — and as more and more wireless devices of all sorts become part of our lives — the electrons will follow. And that shift underscores how challenging it will be to reduce electricity use and carbon emissions even as we become more efficient.

Nonetheless, this issue aims to make a modest contribution by reviewing the latest developments in Renewables on Page 14.