ABSTRACT
Energy-efficient processes are increasingly key priorities for information and communication technology (ICT) companies with attention being paid to both ecological and economic drivers. Although in some cases the use of ICT can be beneficial to the environment (e.g., by reducing travel and introducing more efficient business processes), countries are becoming increasingly aware of the very large growth in energy consumption of telecommunication companies. In particular, the predicted future growth in the number of connected devices and the Internet bandwidth of an order ofmagnitude or two is not practical if it leads to a corresponding growth in energy consumption. Regulations may therefore come soon, particularly if governments mandate increasing moves toward carbon neutrality, as has already begun to occur in the public sector in British Columbia and New Zealand. Indeed the United Kingdom has highlighted this as a priority [1]. This represents a significant departure from accepted practices where ICT services are provided to meet the growing demand, with little regard for the energy consequences of relative location of supply and demand. It also departs from existing attempts to constrain energy demand as it has been shown that increased equipment power efficiency leads to more consumption, the Khazzoom-Brookes postulate [2].
