Achieving carbon reductions through IT in the public sector

Carbon emissions represent an increasing and potentially significant cost for both the private and public organisations – however there is a general expectation that the public sector should be forging ahead and setting an example in meeting mandatory requirements. The challenge for many organisations is trying to understand which technologies are best suited and consequently how to achieve the biggest reductions at lowest cost.

IT – villain or hero?
The contribution of Information Technology (IT) usage to global carbon emissions has been estimated at 2% of the total, or approximately equivalent to the contribution of the aviation sector. With IT becoming ever more pervasive, this proportion is expected to rise over time. However, as many commentators have pointed out, the scope for IT equipment to lead to reductions in carbon emissions is much larger. A commonly cited example is the potential for video or web conferencing technology to replace air travel to international meetings.

While this is no doubt true at a macro level, for the individuals responsible for reducing their organisation’s carbon emissions, selecting specific projects to implement is by no means straightforward. Most aspects of a public sector organisation’s operations will have an impact on greenhouse gas emissions, from gases leaked from air conditioning systems to fuel use in vehicle fleets or electricity consumption by data centre servers. There will be carbon savings that can be made in most if not all of these aspects, which generally also correspond to cost savings due to increased efficiency. A wide range of technology and IT solutions exist to facilitate these reductions, but the cost of implementing them can vary greatly, as can the magnitude of the savings. The challenge for the public sector is to prioritise the initiatives that maximise cost and carbon savings while minimising the required investment.

Tracking and modelling capability – the key to identifying savings
Organisations managing their carbon emissions proactively using an Enterprise Carbon Accounting software solution are at an advantage. The software enables them to analyse all aspects of their operations in detail and understand the respective cost and carbon implications. Consequently, they know where the greatest potential for efficiency improvements lies and can focus their attention on the most relevant technologies. Some of these software solutions also enable the user to test the likely impact of different possible solutions using scenario planning tools that can calculate the expected carbon and cost savings achievable with a given technology.

The calculations are based on the actual data that the organisation has loaded into the software, ensuring that the results are relevant to their particular situation. By running multiple scenarios, they are able to determine the most appropriate solution to meet their specific goals.

A recent example was a local authority planning an upgrade to their ICT infrastructure. They were able to model the impact of introducing more efficient equipment and ways of working such as moving to using ‘thin client’ terminals rather than traditional desktops and using a managed printing service rather than running multiple printers. They calculated that the total savings resulting from their programme of initiatives would amount to 30% in the first year of the project.

With very little probability of funding for additional administrative resource over the next few years, public sector bodies face having to absorb the burden of complying with increased carbon reporting and reduction requirements within the existing teams. Not only has this created a real threat of not meeting their targets, finding additional capacity to assess which technologies will lead to the most cost effective reductions will be challenging. It is becoming clear that the public sector now needs to transition towards a more automated approach to carbon management.

Shared public sector platform – route to savings and consistency
As public sector organisations start to introduce IT solutions in this area, they need to consider the opportunity to procure these systems collaboratively as a possible shared service. This will maximise efficiencies and enable UK public sector to have a consistent way of measuring carbon across its various entities which will allow it to perform meaningful analysis at a macro level and benchmark performance of different organisations.

A shared service approach will meet the complex multiple stakeholders’ requirements and avoid a proliferation of incompatible solutions while at the same time allowing sustainability managers to get on with the business of reducing carbon rather than being held back by the burden of reporting. It is therefore becoming ever more important that the carbon implications of all their operations are well understood, and that all technology decisions are taken with a view to maximising efficiency and reducing emissions.

Hugo Seymour is carbon consultant at Greenstone Carbon Management, a specialist carbon solutions company based in London.