Measuring the rebound effect of ICT use

• ICT companies are wondering about greenhouse gas emissions (measured in mass of CO2 equivalent, denoted CO2e) as a result of the use of their products and services, which includes “rebound effects”.
• Defined by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), recommendation L.1480 is a game changer for assessing the impact of ICT use on greenhouse gas emissions, by providing comprehensive measurement of the effects of their use, as well as rigor and transparency.

Does the implementation of information and communication technologies (ICT) allow their users to reduce their CO emissions?₂ equivalent, and to what extent? This vast question is the subject of studies, debates and occasionally quantitative evaluations put forward as evidence of an effect ” IT for Green “. In 2015, the Global enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), for example, published its SMARTer2030 report, from which the following assertion emerges: every tonne of CO_2nd generated by ICT would avoid around 10 tonnes of CO2e emissions for the sectors that use them.

The attractive assertion, however, raises questions linked to the methodology used and possible analysis biases (” cherry picking » of use cases, lack of observation of real usage behaviors, limited boundary of the system evaluated, etc.).

Measuring the CO impact_2nd of the use of ICT by other sectors implies considering all the carbon consequences of use: we always study an “ICT solution + use” couple. It is the use which (can) decarbonize(r).

Take into account carbon effects, all carbon effects

An exhaustive measure, including the effects, known as “ bounce “, of the consequences of the use of ICT solutions is in fact essential to account for the reality of the effects of this use on greenhouse gas emissions – thereby, says the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on climate change (IPCC), to measure the contribution (positive or negative) made by the use of these ICT solutions to global warming.

Measuring this carbon impact of the use of ICT in other sectors, a delicate exercise, involves taking into consideration all of the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the use of an IT solution. It is first a question of analyzing the service studied from end to end: the technical architecture on which it is based, in particular the carbon impact of user equipment, data centers, networks, support activities such as installation at the customer’s site by a technician, etc., then its actual use, actually observed including the changes in behavior induced by the ICT solution in the user.

Recommendation L.1480, developed by Study Group 5 (CE5), Question 9 of the ITU-T, now allows a renovated approach, going further than a simple attributional Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) limited to the ICT solution itself.

The workings of the method

On what principles and methods is this standardized evaluation methodology based? “ To make a measurement, we compare two scenarios over the same time frame, explain researcher Jérôme Fournier and François Bélorgey, director of development of innovative products and services at Orange, who participated in the development of the recommendation. The reference scenario on the one hand corresponds to the activity observed by the user in the absence of the digital solution (or with a previous digital solution), and the ICT scenario which focuses on the consequences of use by the user, of this new digital solution: for example, the reduction of travel or even employee moves linked to the use of a remote collaborative working tool set up as part of teleworking.

The stricto sensu measure evaluates three positions. The so-called first-order effects are those linked to the operational implementation of the digital solution itself – the equipment which makes up its technical architecture in particular – and always correspond to additional emissions. Second-order effects concern the direct consequences of using the solution, in terms of CO emissions.₂e compared to the reference scenario, by the substitution or optimization of an activity prior to the deployment of the solution. Higher order effects characterize the modifications that the use of the solution causes in user behavior, such as rebound effects which are sometimes the consequences of the surplus (or reduction) in economic activity generated, for example the use of financial benefits derived from the solution. » If we take the example of a teleworking solution, the reduction in home/office travel is a second-order (immediate) effect, while working from a second home is a higher-order effect (adaptation of behavior).

These effects are all represented via a tree of consequences, and the algebraic sum of the three effects makes it possible to determine the emissions avoided or created due to the implementation of the solution. at the house of the user. It is in fact its use alone, its own action, which can, if necessary, decarbonize, not the ICT solution – at least, at the first level of aggregation.

Complete, verifiable, declinable

A major added value of this method – particularly inspired by a model developed by Ademe with its approach
QuantiGES – lies in its exhaustiveness and the transparency of the hypotheses, which avoid greenwashing by omission or undervaluation of certain effects. By applying it to a case of implementing teleworking on its Atalante site in Rennes, Orange has also highlighted the carbon weight of higher order effects (until now most often ignored) in the result.

“ This methodology is neutral with regard to the result, transparent and auditable. It also establishes three levels of evaluation, of which only the results of the most advanced (which evaluates the effects of all kinds) can be the subject of external communication, after critical review by a third party. Furthermore, it can be applied to any type of action and sector beyond digital, as Orange has done by applying it to the sales, installation and maintenance of B2C and B2B solar panels. Orange Energy. It has thus been shown that the use of these Orange Poland products contributes very positively to decarbonization in Poland. »

Published in December 2022, the L.1480 recommendation is the first of its kind at the international level and is a game-changer for the sector and its stakeholders, who must adapt their methods of evaluating the carbon consequences of the use of their solutions, for make them exhaustive and global and thereby more credible. At European level, it is currently being standardized by ETSI. Continuing the work carried out, this method could be extended to other environmental issues beyond carbon effects, such as impacts on soil acidification, eutrophication of fresh or marine waters, resource depletion natural resources, etc., or the damage to human health or the quality of ecosystems, biodiversity in particular.