Brussels, 14/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - In a communication adopted on 13 May, the European Commission says it intends to use information and communications technologies (ICT) to help combat climate change. “To meet Europe's energy efficiency goals by 2020, we need a high growth, low carbon economy. Research and rapid take-up of innovative energy efficient ICT solutions will be crucial to lowering emissions across the whole economy,” said Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media.
The Commission will concentrate on three areas. 1) Energy generation and distribution uses one third of all primary energy. Electricity generation could be made more efficient by 40% and its transport and distribution by 10%. ICT could make not only the management of power grids more efficient but also facilitate the integration of renewable energy sources. 2) Buildings. The heating, cooling and lighting of buildings account for more than 40% of European energy consumption. ICT can continuously monitor data to optimise lighting, ventilation and equipment performance and provide consumers real-time updates on their energy consumption to stimulate behavioural changes. 3) Lighting. 20% of world electricity is used for lighting. Changing to energy efficient light bulbs could halve today's energy consumption for lighting by 2025. Intelligent light bulbs, which automatically adjust to natural light and people's presence will have an even greater effect.
The Commission is also launching a consultation with stakeholders. In this process, cities are considered a priority as they produce 80% of CO2 emissions. Urban areas can also provide the right setting for testing, validating and deploying new ICT-based solutions, it says. (I.L.)