EU says ICT is key to cutting carbon emissions

I am planning a more considered news story on this but the first pass is that the EU seems have bought into the mantra that the IT industry has been banging on about of late. As well as making IT equipment and systems more efficient – a lot of IT firms are also keen to push the ability of IT to make other systems more efficient such as transport and energy generation.

Here's the introduction to the EU's statement on this:

As part of its effort to combat climate change, the European Commission today announced that it would promote the use of ICT (Information and Communications Technologies) to improve energy efficiency throughout the economy, starting with buildings, lighting and the power grid. ICT can enable, across the economy, greener behaviour, which would massively cut Europe's carbon footprint if widely deployed. The Commission will encourage the ICT industry to demonstrate leadership in reducing its own CO2 emissions and by identifying and creating solutions that will benefit the whole economy. For instance the most advanced computer servers consume the same amount of energy as a standard light bulb; if widely used they could offer potential energy savings of up to 70%.

More to follow on this.