Devices, datacentres drive power surge as video grows to 82% of online traffic
Details
Editor
| 02 December 2020
What is described as the “staggering” disparity between the energy demands of emerging consumer devices and immersive video experiences has spotlighted the need for more environmentally sustainable choices across the video entertainment industry according to a joint study from InterDigital and Futuresource.
Energy TV Futuresource 2 Dec 2020
The report, The Sustainable Future of Video Entertainment, analysed the energy demands of the video entertainment industry, from the production, delivery, and consumption of feature films, video games, and other video experiences, noting emerging solutions to mitigate the environmental impact across the video value chain. The findings suggest that sustainability must be integrated into all aspects of the video entertainment industry, from research to manufacturing to supply chain and logistics, to be most effective.

“This has been the year of video, as the world’s circumstances have aligned with a ubiquity of consumer devices and more time spent looking at our screens,” noted InterDigital CTO Henry Tirri. “As our dependence on these devices and experiences grows, so too will our impact on the environment become more consequential.”

The report highlighted several statistics for the video industry’s staggering energy dependence and emerging sustainable solutions. It noted the limited awareness of the environmental impact of video and consumer devices, and lack of access to more sustainable choices, are often cited as key factors driving the video entertainment industry’s growing carbon footprint.

In 2019, said the study, televisions consumed an estimated 251Terawatt hours (TWh) of energy, and consumer electronic devices consumed 379 TWh of energy. Conversely, datacentres for streaming video consumed 2,460 Gigawatt hours of energy. Datacentres are integral to housing content for the video entertainment industry but also leave a high carbon footprint. They were found to be responsible for roughly 3% of global electricity use and the study said that the massive impact of datacentres on global energy reserves highlights the need for a green transformation of the ICT sector.

By 2022, video viewing is likely to account for 82% of all internet traffic, with overall internet traffic accounting for more than 1% of global emissions. And given the trend of the evolution of HD to 4K and to 8K, the study also warned that an 8K TV uses more than double the electricity as a 4K TV. Moreover, many users seemed to be unaware that 8K TVs account for 108gCO2e per hour of emissions, 2.6 times higher than for a 4K set, and by 2023, roughly 30 million 8K TVs will consume 50% more energy than the 343 million tablets worldwide. The report noted that consumer engagement with sustainability will spur greater scrutiny in device choice.

The Sustainable Future of Video Entertainment report cautioned that the video entertainment industry still faces barriers to achieving sustainability, including a lack of knowledge of the video entertainment industry’s carbon footprint, the assumption that sustainable practices are prohibitively expensive, and the relative absence of regulations and standards to monitor the industry’s carbon emissions. Yet despite these challenges, it recognised the video ecosystem has also pursued new efforts to achieve a more sustainable future.

“The data in this report highlights the importance of continued technical progress in streaming, networking, compression and device technology, but also the need for individuals to make responsible choices,” Tirri concluded. “For instance, an individual watching an information broadcast on a 4K TV can lessen their energy footprint by almost 40% simply by choosing to watch the content in 720p – and even more by choosing to watch it on a tablet or their smartphone. With the awareness that studies like the InterDigital/Futuresource study will bring, individuals will be empowered to understand and make those choices.”