In particular, climate change and the large media focus on the Fridays for Future movement that emerged in response to the former have made sustainable economic activity a subject of greater focus both politically and socially. The broadest consensus is that humanity must reduce its resource consumption if future generations are to continue to have a good quality of life on our planet. And because IT is especially resource-intensive, it also takes center stage in such deliberations.
According to the Journal of Cleaner Production electricity use by computer centers will increase from 2016 to 2040 to account for more than 14% of all emissions globally. And to date, only a small portion of the energy currently being consumed is generated sustainably.
Worldwide, information technology is responsible for approximately 2 to 3 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, which are the main cause of climate change. A recent study by The Shift Project in France predicted that, given current measured data, digital economyemissions could in fact represent 8 percent of all CO2 emissions by 2025. As a result, the environment would be more severely polluted by the IT industry than by cars and motorcycles.
Because digitization is progressing rapidly, there is a high probability that the share of emissions will also increase. In order to slow this increase and all of its negative consequences, companies and private users must use digital applications and devices that are the best in terms of energy-efficient operation and resource-efficient production.