PROCESS MAP SHOWING BOUNDARY SCOPE OF VIDEO STREAMING
Data centres
Transmission
User media device
Wired access networks
Home terminal and routers
Core networks
Cellular access networks
Cloud storage and encoding
Content delivery network
Subscriber premises transmission
Internet transmission
Peripherals
Screens
total use phase carbon emissions of ICT are at 2-4% of the global total – roughly the same as the aviation sector. To head off the criticism that “ICT is just as bad as flying”, Schien gave perspective by noting: “The big difference between those two sectors is that aviation is only used by a small number of individuals in the developed world, whereas ICT is used globally, so it’s a much more egalitarian way to emit carbon. It’s also a relatively small portion of carbon on the global scale.” Schien admitted that, as video becomes an essential part of business, and connectivity grows around the world – and other carbon-heavy sectors reduce their emissions – ICT ’s share of the global carbon footprint will increase. Two main ISO-approved methods were used in the Lancaster report to assess the sector ’s carbon emissions – life cycle assessments (LCA) and GHG Protocol, which measures a system’s output of greenhouse gases in terms of direct emissions, purchased electricity, and those from the rest of the supply chain, upstream and downstream. Measuring the impact of streaming using the life cycle assessment meant examining four broad areas – data centre servers, wired networks, cellular
networks and user devices. This type of assessment has the potential to be very granular and can reveal hidden liabilities, as well as opportunities for greater efficiency or carbon removal. “All the processes must be taken into account to understand this end-to-end footprint,” says Schien. HOME IS WHERE THE CARBON IS Schien’s research on BBC iPlayer showed that the biggest part of the streaming carbon footprint took place inside the viewer ’s home, through device and network equipment power consumption. Those findings were supported by a 2021 Carbon Trust report (carbontrust.com/resources/carbon-impact- of-video-streaming), with the viewing device the dominant source of emissions, followed by the home router. The report estimated one hour of streaming video emitting a total of 50-60g of CO2. As a comparison, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency, a petrol-powered car emits roughly 400g of CO2 for each mile driven. Streaming may not be the world’s worst polluting industry, but going to zero carbon means that we still need to eliminate carbon in the system. The amount of carbon we can emit is finite. The planet doesn’t care if it comes from a few giant
polluters, or lots of smaller ones. The total still has to be zero (with some leeway given to industries such as farming, which is virtually impossible to make zero carbon). To reduce the negative impact, explained Schien, we need to decarbonise electricity entirely – on both the distribution and consumer sides. The industry also needs to
THE BIGGEST PART OF THE STREAMING CARBON FOOTPRINT TOOK PLACE INSIDE THE VIEWER’S HOME
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