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As part of its effort to combat climate change and drive economic recovery, the European Commission today called on Member States and industry to use information and communications technologies (ICT) to improve energy efficiency. These technologies are expected to reduce total carbon emissions in Europe by up to 15% by 2020. ICT can not only improve monitoring and management of energy use in factories, offices and in public spaces but above all help make people more aware of how they use energy. With smart metering in their homes, for example, consumers have been found to reduce their energy consumption by as much as 10%.

"Targeting energy-efficient and low-carbon growth will help Europe face its biggest challenges: climate change, energy security and the economic crisis." said Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media. "ICT have an enormous untapped potential for saving energy right across the economy. I personally would recommend to the ICT sector to show the way for the rest of the economy by reducing its own carbon footprint already by 2015 by 20%. I see from the response of European ICT companies to the Commission's ongoing work that Europe is already well ahead in using ICT for greening the economy."

Spreading the use of technologies that allow people and business to carry out their daily activities in a more energy efficient way are crucial to meeting the EU's 2020 climate change goals. ICT are now embedded in almost all parts of Europe's economy.

The ICT sector itself is responsible for 2% of carbon emissions in Europe: 1.75% resulting from the use of ICT products and services, and 0.25% from their production. While the ICT sector should set itself ambitious targets for improving its own energy and carbon footprint it will lead to the biggest energy-efficiency gains when used in the wider economy. The use of ICT across all sectors of the economy and society can reduce the remaining 98% of European emissions.

Source: European Commission