Information and communications technologies (ICT) are contributing to an economy-wide stabilization of U.S. energy consumption, according to a report released today.
The analysis by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) found that huge cost reductions and important new ICT innovations have worked together to drive the expansion of new information and communications technologies without increasing overall energy consumption in the U.S. economy.
According to Dr. Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez, ACEEE Research Associate and co-author, "ICT investments provide our society with critical tools for cost-effective energy savings. If we use these tools to maximum advantage, we can increase energy productivity, reduce energy waste, maintain a robust economy, and lower carbon emissions."
The ACEEE study emphasizes the growing role of ICT applications in enabling new high-tech products and services, as well as spurring new investment and new ways of delivering energy services.
The assessment indicates that for every extra kilowatt-hour of electricity demanded by ICT, the U.S. economy increased its overall energy savings by a factor of about 10.
Data for the past 37 years indicate that the pace of energy efficiency gains has increased significantly since 1996, which was a watershed year in the expansion of ICT in Internet-based and other electronic applications. While U.S. energy intensity declined 1.8% per year between 1970 and 1995, it declined at a much more rapid rate of 2.4% between 1996 and 2006 as a result of the expansion and diffusion of ICT innovations as well as other ICT-related changes in the economy. ((
Two other key findings of the study include:
- It takes less than half the energy to produce a dollar of economic output today as it did in 1970. These gains in energy efficiency have allowed the U.S. to meet approximately 75% of new demand for energy services via efficiency as opposed to new energy supplies.
- While U.S. economic output has expanded by nearly 65% since 1990, and per capita incomes have grown by 35%, the demand for energy and power resources grew by only 23%. This decoupling of economic growth and energy consumption is a function of increased energy productivity-in effect, the ability to generate more energy services from each unit of energy consumed.
The ICEEE report emphasizes that whether at the national, state, or local level, smart energy policies should maximize energy efficiency and promote the adoption of ICT applications that can reduce energy consumption and increase energy productivity in households, businesses, and industry around the country.
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