[2008.06.21] Technology and climate change 技术与气候变化

Technology and climate change
技术与气候变化

Computing sustainability
电子可持续性

Jun 19th 2008
From The Economist print edition

How computers can help to cut carbon emissions
电脑如何帮助减少碳排放量？

HOW much computing can mankind afford? That is a question the computer and telecoms industries hate to hear. They do not see themselves in the same dirty league as airlines or carmakers, sources of huge amounts of carbon dioxide, but instead as part of the solution. In a pre-emptive strike, a group of technology firms calling itself the Global eSustainability Initiative (GeSI) has joined the Climate Group, a non-profit environmental club, to examine how information and communications technologies (ICT) affect climate change. Their research, released on June 20th, confirms that ICT could in fact do much to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions-but not in the way you might think.
人类能够承受多少台电脑？这个问题让计算机和电信行业深恶痛绝。这些行业不愿与航空业或汽车制造业相提并论，因为航空业或汽车制造业制造了大量的二氧化碳，相反，他们想成为解决方案的一部分。一群科技公司采取先发制人的行动，组成全球电子可持续发展倡议组织（GeSI），加入气候集团（一个非赢利性环境组织），研究信息通信技术（ICT）如何影响环境变化。他们在6月20日发布了一份研究报告，确认ICT的确能够有效地减少温室气体排放，但方式却让人有点意想不到。

When it comes to emissions, ICT is on a par with aviation. In 2007, according to the report, the world’s electronic gear (including PCs, their peripherals, telecoms networks and devices, and the warehouses of corporate machines known as data centres) produced 830m tonnes of CO2-about 2% of total emissions from human activity. Even with technology that uses energy more sparingly, this is expected to grow to 1.4 billion tonnes by 2020. Although PCs, mobile phones and networks will account for most (56%) of this, emissions from data centres will grow the fastest.
就碳排放而言，ICT与航空业相差无几。报告称，2007年，全球的电子设备（包括个人电脑、外围设备、电信网络与设备以及公司的数据中心）共产生8.3亿吨二氧化碳，约占人类排放总数的2%。即使是应用了更节能的技术，预计这个数字在2020年也能升至14亿吨。虽然个人电脑、手机和网络是主要排放源（约排放56%的废气），数据中心的排放量增长却最快。

Yet these numbers look much less frightening if, in the words of the study, ICT’s “enabling effect” is taken into account. The study calculates that ICT could help to reduce emissions in other industries by 7.8 billion tonnes by 2020, or five times ICT’s own footprint. Perhaps the best-known of these enabling effects is to replace face-to-face meetings, which require carbon-belching air travel, with low-emission alternatives such as videoconferencing. John Chambers, the boss of Cisco, a big maker of network equipment, says his company has reduced its carbon footprint by 11% by using its own “telepresence” gear. It also means higher productivity and reduced “wear and tear” on executives, he adds.
不过，如果考虑到报告所称的ICT的”积极作用”，这些数字就不那么触目惊心了。报告指出，截至2020年，ICT能够帮助其他行业减少78亿吨的碳排放，这相当于ICT自身碳足迹的5倍。也许最为人熟知的积极作用是用低碳排放的视频会议代替面对面的会谈，面对面的会谈会因为航空需求而产生大量碳排放。网络设备大制造商思科的老板 John Chambers说，他的公司通过使用自身的”电子”设备，已将其碳足迹减少了11%。他又说，这还能提高效率，管理层又能省时省力。

But reducing transport emissions using technologies such as videoconferencing and teleworking turn out to be some of the smaller enabling effects-saving a potential 140m and 220m tonnes of CO2 a year in 2020 respectively (see chart). Using computers to improve logistics (for example, by planning the routes of delivery vehicles more efficiently) could save 1.5 billion tonnes; using data networking inside a “smart” electrical grid to manage demand and reduce unnecessary energy consumption could save 2 billion tonnes; and computer-enabled “smart buildings”, in which lighting and ventilation systems turn themselves off if nobody is around, could save 1.7 billion tonnes.
通过视频会议和电子办公等技术来减少交通废气的排放只是一些较小的积极作用，在2020年这一年将分别减少1.4亿吨和2.2亿吨的二氧化碳排放（见图表）。利用电脑来改善物流（比如，更有效地规划运送车辆的路线）能节省15亿吨二氧化碳；使用”智能”电网内的数据网络来管理供求来减少不必要的能源消费，这能减少20亿吨二氧化碳的排放；而电脑驱动的”智能建筑”能少排17亿吨二氧化碳，在这些建筑内，照明和通风系统在没人时能自动关闭。

None of this will be easy. The industry can supply the hardware and software, but the bigger problem is the “wetware”-people, economics and politics. The right skills are often scarce. Incentives are lacking for businesses to invest in carbon-reducing technology. There need to be new technical standards. For transport, power grids and buildings to become more efficient, there must be rules on how, for instance, refrigerators should talk to electricity meters, and thermostats to heating systems. But the internet shows that when common standards are agreed on in an industry, great things can happen. The technology industry’s contribution to tackling climate change may come from its standards bodies as much as its clever gizmos.
这些目标不能轻而易举就实现。这个行业提供硬件和软件，但是最大的问题是”湿件”-人、经济和政治。真正有效的技术常常不足；缺乏激励措施，鼓励公司投资于碳减少技术。人们需要新的技术标准。要让交通、电网和建筑更加高效，必须制定规则，规定如何，比如，让冰箱和恒温器更节能。网络表明，当一个行业达成了一个共同准则时，奇迹往往能发生。科技行业应对气候变化的贡献可能既来自于其制定的标准，又来自于其提供的先进设备。

译者：王乙任   http://www.ecocn.org/forum/viewthread.php?tid=12222&extra=page%3D1