Study: Green Technology is a Top Energy Saver

A new study by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has linked technology dramatic energy efficiency and has said that it is in fact, a net saver of energy by a 10:1 ratio across the economy.

According to ACEE, the direct correlation between gains in energy productivity and investments in information and communications technology (ICT) have, allowed this increase in efficiency to occur.

The ACEEE report, "Information and Communication Technologies: The Power of Productivity," found that:

 

-- For every extra kilowatt-hour of electricity that has been demanded by ICT technologies, the U.S. economy increased its overall energy savings by a factor of about 10. Thus, these productivity gains have led to huge net savings in both energy and economic costs. The extraordinary take away from this finding is that ICT is a net saver of energy across our economy.

-- For the past 37 years the pace of energy efficiency gains has increased significantly since 1996. Whereas U.S. energy intensity declined 1.8 percent per year between 1970 and 1995, it declined at a much more rapid rate of 2.4 percent between 1996 and 2006.

-- Since 1970, the United States has dramatically improved the amount of energy it takes to generate economic activity. Today, it takes less than half the energy to produce a dollar of economic output as it did in 1970. U.S. energy consumption per dollar of economic output has declined from 18 thousand Btus in 1970 to less than 9 thousand Btus by the end of 2008. Through that energy efficiency we have met approximately 75 percent of our new demand for energy.

Along with this report, technology CEOs have also laid out a new energy initiative and asked policymakers recognize technology's power and focus on leveraging it to solve the nation's energy challenges.

"Whether it is making our buildings smarter, reducing heating and cooling costs, harnessing the power of the sun, virtualization or enabling telecommunications, technology is a driving force in making our country more energy efficient," said Mike Splinter, the President and CEO of Applied Materials (News - Alert), Inc. and Chair of the Technology CEO Council in a statement to the press.

 

"Many of our nation's companies have demonstrated that through technology they can do more business with less energy. Now we must ensure that we maximize the energy efficiency and environmental benefits that technology brings to our economy and that those benefits are shared by all."

 

Find out more about the study and its findings HERE