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ITU-T Recommendations on methodologies to assess the environmental impact of ICT

Training session

Ahmed Zeddam, Chairman of Study Group 5 «ICT, Environment and Climate Change»Jean-Manuel Canet, Rapporteur, Question on methodologies

ITU Workshop on Green ICTOuagadougou, Burkina Faso

16 July 2013

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• Introduction : Question on methodologies• Recommendation L.1400 : General principles• Recommendation L.1410 : ICT Goods, Networks and Services• Recommendation L.1420 : ICT in organisations• Recommendation L.1430 : ICT projects• Recommendation L. ICT in cities• Conclusions

Agenda

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Question on methodologies

3 Recommendations published:L.1400 : Overview and general principles Available : http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-L.1400

L.1410 Environmental impact of ICT Goods, Networks and ServicesAvailable : http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-L.1410

L.1420 Environmental impact of ICT in organisationsAvailable : http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-L.1420

3 Recommendations under preparation :L.1430 Environmental impact of ICT projects (publication expected in 2013)L.1440 Environmental impact of ICT in cities (consent expected in 2014)L.1450 Environmental impact of ICT in countries (consent expected in 2014)

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Question on methodologies

ITU, the United Nations agency for ICT 193 Member States, more than 700 Sectorial Members and more than

40 Academic Members

Cooperation on methodologies include :

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• Introduction : Question on methodologies• Recommendation L.1400 : General principles• Recommendation L.1410 : ICT Goods, Networks and Services• Recommendation L.1420 : ICT in organisations• Recommendation L.1430 : ICT projects• Recommendation L.ICT in cities• Conclusions

Agenda

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Recommendation L.1400

It presents general principles and an overview of the different

methodologies being developed

General principles :– Assessment of environmental impacts should be performed on a full life-

cycle perspective for goods, networks and services – Boundaries should be selected, quoted, documented and made

available for verification– Quantification methodologies should be selected, quoted, documented

and made available for verification– Reliable data should be researched. Used data should be quoted,

documented and made available for verification – Bias and uncertainties should be documented and reduced as far as it is

practicable– It should be noted that results of assessments may vary significantly

depending upon the selection of boundaries, the quantification methodologies selected and data used

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• Introduction : Question on methodologies• Recommendation L.1400 : General principles• Recommendation L.1410 : ICT Goods, Networks and Services• Recommendation L.1420 : ICT in organisations• Recommendation L.1430 : ICT projects• Recommendation L.ICT in cities• Conclusions

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• It is a Recommendation that complements ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 and provides guidance on how to assess environmental impacts of ICT Goods, Networks and Services

– It has been built with a large number of representatives from the ICT sector and governments. It has been built to be consistent with EC/JRC, ETSI, IEC and GHG Protocol ICT supplement initiatives

– It focuses on energy consumption and GHG emissions

– More than 100 contributions and inputs were received and taken into account.

• There are 2 Parts in the Recommendation:– Part I : ICT Lifecycle assessment: framework and guidance– Part II : Comparative analysis between ICT and baseline scenario : framework and

guidance

L.1410 : What is it ?

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• The 2 Parts describe clear steps to follow in order to assess environmental impacts over the entire life cycle

• L.1410 aims to help :– identify what are the major activities and life cycle stages impacting the

environment,

– design and prepare action plans,

– prioritize actions

• In the context of a rising cost of energy and introduction of carbon taxes, L.1410 aims to help :– save costs

– retain customers in the future

– develop new opportunities

L.1410 : What is it for ?

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• To provide an assessment of the environmental impact of a product system

as a basis for improving it

• To understand the relative importance of different life cycle stages /activities

- where to put best efforts for improvement

• To monitor performance improvements over time

Benefits of an LCA approach

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• Complexity

• Hardware, software, networks and services

• Rapidly changing product specifications, and service offerings

• Multitude of components and subcomponents

• Long, complex and dynamically changing supply chains that span

the globe

• Multitude of suppliers

• Second-order and third-order effects

ICT LCA Challenges

Data availability and data quality L.1410 IC

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L.1410 Part I: What are the steps to follow?

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• Functional unit definitions, ICT goods

The following functional unit should be used:

• Annual ICT goods use (per one year of ICT good use) or

• Total ICT good use per lifetime of ICT good

For ICT goods, additional more specific functional units may also be considered when the result is presented, e.g. the time during which one uses a phone and the number of e-mails sent.

L.1410 Part I

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• Functional unit definitions, ICT networks

ICT networks can be seen as a system composed of different types of ICT goods. The following functional unit should be applied for ICT networks used during at least one year:

• Annual Network use

Additionally, other more specific functional units may be applied as well, based on the scope and purpose of the LCA, for instance: annual network use per phone line, per amount of users, or per transmitted data, or per coverage area (if applicable).

L.1410 Part I

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• Functional unit definitions, ICT services

The following functional unit should be applied:

• Annual service use.

Corresponding realistic use scenarios shall be defined.

Additionally, other more specific functional units may be applied as well, based on the scope and purpose of the LCA, e.g. per one hour or per Gigabit.

L.1410 Part I

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L.1410 Part I Reporting : example

GHG emissions [kg CO2e per subscriber per year]

Raw materialacquisition

Production Use EoLT

Other EoLT

ICT specific EoLT

Metal recycling

Transports

ICT goods use

Transports

Assembly

Parts production

Raw material processing

Raw material acquisition

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L.1410 Part II : What are the steps to follow ?

N.b. For Part II which is a comparative analysis between an ICT system and a reference product system the above steps need to be carried out on BOTH the ICT system and the reference product system

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• There are two target systems for comparative analysis

1. Comparison between a reference product system and an ICT service e.g. travelling to a face to face meeting (flight, train, car, hotel stays)

versus the use of a Video conferencing service

2. Comparison between two ICT goods or two ICT networks or two ICT services

e.g. an upgraded data centre compared to an old one

Key principles :

Systems must be compared using the same functional unit and equivalent methodological considerations, such as system boundary, data quality, allocation procedures and cut off rules (if applied)

In a comparative analysis what one is seeking to capture is the difference between the two systems rather than the magnitude of both

L. 1410 Part II : key principles

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L. 1410 Part II, example of reporting

Example of comparative evaluation between ICT and reference product system with categories of life cycle stages.

Reference product sysytem Targeted ICT

GH

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Disposal/Recycling

Removal

Use

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Production

Percentage of change inenvironmental load throughintroduction of ICTs: Y %

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• Introduction : Question on methodologies• Recommendation L.1400 : General principles• Recommendation L.1410 : ICT Goods, Networks and Services• Recommendation L.1420 : ICT in organisations• Recommendation L.1430: ICT projects• Recommendation L.ICT in cities• Conclusions

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What is L.1420 ? What is it for ?

• It is a Recommendation providing guidance on how to assess environmental impacts of ICT in organizations.

– It has been built with a large number of representatives from the ICT sector and governments. It deals with energy consumption and GHG emissions.

– It is in line with widely used international voluntary measuring and reporting schemes.

• It complements ISO 14064-1 and the GHG Protocol.

• This Recommendation covers:

– The assessment of the life cycle environmental impact of ICT Goods, Networks and Services used by an organization (“Non-ICT organizations”)

– The assessment of the environmental impact of an ICT organization (“ICT organizations”)

– The reporting of these impacts to ensure fair and transparent communications

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• The assessment of the environmental impact of an ICT organization. – An ICT organization is an organization, the core activity of which is directly

related to the design, production, promotion, sales or maintenance of ICT goods, networks or services.

• The assessment of the life cycle environmental impact of ICT Goods, Networks and Services used by an non-ICT organization .

– Other organizations

• The interpretation of these impacts and their fair and transparent reporting

– Documentation is required

• This Recommendation does not address GHG removals or rebound effects

– GHG removals for ICTs is not the highest priority

– Rebound effects are still under study

Scope

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• The Recommendation covers the 3 scopes:– Scope 1 (Direct emissions): Activities owned or controlled by your organization

that release emissions straight into the atmosphere.

• Examples of scope 1 emissions include emissions from combustion in owned or controlled boilers, furnaces, vehicles.

– Scope 2 (Energy indirect): Emissions being released into the atmosphere associated with your consumption of purchased electricity, heat, steam and cooling.

• These are indirect emissions that are a consequence of your organisation’s activities but which occur at sources you do not own or control.

– Scope 3 (Other indirect): Emissions that are a consequence of your actions, which occur at sources which you do not own or control and which are not classed as scope 2 emissions.

• Examples of scope 3 emissions are business travel by means not owned or controlled by your organization, waste disposal, or purchased materials or fuels.

• Assessment and reporting for scope 1 and scope 2 emissions are mandatory.

• Assessment and reporting for scope 3 emissions are optional

Scope

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• Relevance

– Select GHG sources, data and methods appropriate to the assessment of the GHG emissions of ICT activities and organizations.

• Completeness

– Include all specified GHG emissions that provide a material contribution to the

assessment of GHG emissions arising from products.

• Consistency

– Enable meaningful comparisons in GHG-related information.

• Accuracy

– Reduce bias and uncertainties as far as practicable.

• Transparency

– The organization shall disclose the information sufficiently to allow a third party to

make decisions with confidence.

Principles

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• Setting the Organizational boundary

• Setting the Operational boundary

• Selection of quantification methodology

• Annual assessment/Establishment of a base year

• Recalculation of energy and GHG inventory (restatements)

• Uncertainties

• Reporting

L-1420 for ICT organizations

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• Evaluation of energy consumption and GHG impact

• Setting the Organizational boundary

• Setting the Operational boundary

• Selection of quantification methodology

• Annual assessment/Establishment of a base year

• Recalculation of energy and GHG inventory (restatements)

• Uncertainties

• Reporting

L.1420 for Non-ICT organizations

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• Introduction : Question on methodologies• Recommendation L.1400 : General principles• Recommendation L.1410 : ICT Goods, Networks and Services• Recommendation L.1420 : ICT in organisations• Recommendation L.1430 : ICT projects• Recommendation L.ICT in cities• Conclusions

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• This Recommendation will specify principles, requirements and methods in order to quantify, monitor and report GHG emission reductions, energy consumption savings, energy efficiency improvements resulting from ICT projects, in complement to ISO 14064-2 and GHG Protocol.

– It is built with a large number of representatives from the ICT sector and governments and in relationship with the UNFCCC.

• It is expected that L.1430 will provide requirements and guidance for :– planning an ICT project and its baseline scenario;– identifying and selecting GHG sources, sinks and storages relevant to the ICT project

and baseline scenario;– identifying and selecting energy consumption sources, generators and storages

relevant to the ICT project and baseline scenario;– managing data quality;– monitoring, quantifying, documenting and reporting ICT project performance; and – validating and/or verifying the ICT project plan or report.

L.1430, consented

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• Introduction : Question on methodologies• Recommendation L.1400 : General principles• Recommendation L.1410 : ICT Goods, Networks and Services• Recommendation L.1420 : ICT in organisations• Recommendation L.1430 : ICT projects• Recommendation L.ICT in cities• Conclusions

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• This Recommendation will present general principles on how to evaluate the environmental impact of Information communication technologies (ICT) in cities, or other urban areas with a focus on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions

– It is built with a large number of representatives from the ICT sector and governments and in relationship with UNEP and UN-HABITAT.

• It is expected that L.1440 will cover the following aspects :

– aggregation of impacts at cities level of ICT organizations– Impacts of ICT projects in cities, for instance in the construction sector, the energy

sector, the transport sector

• It is expected that L.1440 will in particular cover how to assess the impacts of the use of ICT in cities to reduce the GHG emissions of other sectors

L.ICT in cities (to become L.1440), under preparation

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• Introduction : Question on methodologies• Recommendation L.1400 : General principles• Recommendation L.1410 : ICT Goods, Networks and Services• Recommendation L.1420 : ICT in organisations• Recommendation L.ICT projects• Recommendation L.ICT in cities• Conclusions

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• Recommendation ITU-T L.1400 provides general principles

• Recommendation ITU-T L.1410 complements ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 for Life Cycle Analysis of ICT Goods, Networks and Services

Recommendation ITU-T L.1420 complements ISO 14064-1 and GHG Protocol for the assessment of the impact of organisations from the ICT sector and the impact of ICT in all organisations

– L.1410 and L.1420 have been achieved through a very significant effort of the ICT sector. They have been tested in the frame of the European Commission ICT pilots

– L.1410 and L.1420 are currently being revised to take into account the results from the European ICT pilots and other feedbacks

– Your suggestions of improvement are welcome !

• Recommendation ITU-T L.1430 has been consented

• Recommendation L.ICT in cities is under development– Yours suggestions and contributions are welcome. The next meeting to discuss

contributions will take place in Lima, Peru, from December 2 to 13, 2013

Conclusions

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Thanks for your attention !

http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/climatechange/index-fr.html