Special Feature

Reducing the Environmental Load by Using
Information and Communications TechnologyJiro Nakamura† and Shiro Nishi
Abstract
We examine the potential of information and communications technology (ICT) to reduce carbon
dioxide (CO2) emissions, the main factor in global warming, by reducing the movement of people andmaterial. We estimate that CO2 emissions in Japan in 2010 could be reduced by 2.8% through the use ofelectronic commerce, teleworking, intelligent transportation systems, and so on.

1. ICT and the global environment
The rapid spread of information and communications technology (ICT) including the Internet andmobile communications has accelerated the paradigm shift from an industrial society to an information-based society. ICT has a large influence on theenvironmental, economic, and social aspects of ourlives [1]. As shown in Fig. 1, it has positive and negative influences on the global environment. One negative influence is the environmental load that the construction and operation of a telecommunications network creates by its use of energy and naturalresources. On the other hand, ICT-based services
could change lifestyles [2] and business models,
resulting in a reduction of the environmental load.
† NTT Information Sharing Laboratory GroupMusashino-shi, 180-8585 Japan
E-mail: nakamura.jiro@mail.rdc.ntt.co.jp

Environmental load
produced bytelecommunication
network operation

Negative effects on the environment• Uses energy• Uses resources for construction• Creates waste when replaced

Several reports on the effect of information communication on carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reduction
have been published [3]. We extended the calculations to estimate how much the environmental load
could be reduced by using ICT from both a micro perspective [4]-[6] and a macro perspective [7]. In thisarticle, we discuss the total potential reduction of theenvironmental load that could be achieved by using
ICT in Japan [8].
2. Quantifying the effects of ICT services in
reducing environmental load
ICT could significantly reduce adverse impacts on
the environment in three key ways:(1) Making the distribution of goods more efficient(2) Reducing the need for people to travel to makepurchaces and conduct business(3) Making production more efficient
We have developed a procedure for quantitatively

Environmental load
reduced by ICT use

Positive effects on the environment• More efficient distribution• Reduces need for business travel and commuting• More efficient production and everyday life

Fig. 1. Relationship between ICT and the global environment.

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measuring the impact of videoconferencing, e-learning, and other ICT-based systems in reducing theenvironmental load [4]-[6]. We clarified that they
have the potential to reduce energy consumption andCO2 emissions by up to 90% [6]. In addition, we triedto roughly determine what effect the widespreaddeployment of ICT-based services might have on
Japan’s national CO2 emissions. Using statistical data
available in various kinds of white papers and otherofficial publications, we developed a procedure formonitoring how much CO 2 emissions could be
reduced by exploiting the advantages of ICT. We thenapplied these procedures to estimate the CO2 reduction for the years 2001 and 2010.
We applied the formula to estimate the potential
environmental benefits in the following six areas:(1) Business-to-consumer e-commerce(2) Business-to-business e-commerce(3) Digitization of data transfer(4) Teleworking, videoconferencing, and distancetraining(5) Intelligent transportation systems (ITS)(6) National and local e-government(1) Business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce
involves transactions between businesses and indi-vidual consumers over the Internet (Fig. 2). Whentransactions are conducted online, this effectively
eliminates the need for wholesale and retail stores, so
it substantially reduces the flow of goods to and fromthese different physical levels in the supply chain.
Moreover, online ordering boosts made-to-order production, which reduces unnecessary production andthe return of unsold goods. Although electronic commerce produces some increase in CO2 emissions dueto the increased volume of individual shipments andoperation of warehouses, we expect the overall levelof CO2 emissions to be substantially cut. We attempted to estimate overall figures based on the reduced
energy consumption from the wholesale industry in
the industry-related table, proportion of total transactions that are conducted online, amount of energy
saved from not driving cars, and so on. Based onthese calculations, we estimated that CO2 emissions
were reduced by approximately 1.5 million tons in2001 and will be reduced by 5.5 million tons in 2010.
(2) Further evolution of business-to-business(B2B) e-commerce will cut out intermediate warehousing through supply chain management andshould significantly reduce CO2 emissions by reducing business-related travel and eliminating otherGoods
B2C

Distribution
eliminatedGoods
distribution
Manufacturer
Reduceunnecessary
production

Distribution
eliminatedGoods
distribution

Distribution
eliminatedGoods
delivery

Wholesaler

Retailer

Consumers

Goods returns,
travel for business meetings

Goods returns,
travel for business meetings

Travel tocompare goods

Eliminate returns,
travel for businessmeetings

Eliminate returns,
travel for businessmeetings

Reduce travel tocompare andpurchase goods

Reduce unnecessary
production

Reduce intermediate
distribution links

Increase sales distribution

Reduce retail buying

Reduce travelby consumers

Increase warehouse space

Reduce volume of returns

Fig. 2. Business-to-consumer e-commerce and reduction of CO2 emissions.

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Special Feature

wholesale-related operations. We estimate that in thisarea alone CO2 emissions were reduced by about 3.2
million tons in 2001, and will be reduced by approximately 21.8 million tons in 2010. Of the six areas
surveyed, B2B e-commerce offered the greatest
prospect for CO2 reduction and our projected figurefor 2010 is equivalent to about 1.6% of Japan’snational greenhouse gas emissions.
(3) Network delivery of content effectively reduces
the CO2 emissions associated with manufacturing
and distributing physical recording media such as
CDs and videotapes.
(4) Videoconferencing and teleworking reduce theneed to drive cars and use other forms of transportation. We found that CO2 emissions were reduced byabout 800,000 tons in 2001, and we estimate that they
will be reduced by approximately 3.1 million tons in2010.
(5) Further deployment of intelligent transportation systems will reduce CO2 emissions by relieving

highway congestion and traffic jams, a major sourceof CO2 emissions.
(6) Offering e-government services at both thenational and local levels is another area that could
sharply reduce CO2 emissions through, for example,
the use of electronic bidding procedures.
Table 1 shows how much CO2 emissions could bereduced in six areas. Total estimated reduction ofCO2 emissions in 2001 was 6 million tons, which weproject will increase to 34 million tons by 2010.
These figures correspond to about 0.5% and 2.8% ofJapan’s total CO2 emissions in the year 2000 (1.2 billion tons), respectively.
ICT has enormous potential for reducing the volume of CO2 emissions. Clearly the key to exploiting
this potential is to develop networks and information
terminals that minimize adverse effects on the environment while promoting lifestyles and businessmodels that mitigate society’s impact on the environment.

Table 1. Projected reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through application of ICT.
Service area

Reduced emissions*(10,000 tons CO2)

Effects

20012010

1

Business-to-consumer
e-commerce (online sales,convenience stores, network
services, etc.)

Reduce need for intermediate distribution; reduce need for retail outlets,
warehouse space, and sales distribution; reduce returns and curb excess
production; reduce travel of consumers; reduce travel of consumers toconvenience stores

153.7

550.9

2

Business-to-businesse-commerce (supply chain
management, application of ICT
to reuse market, etc.)

Reduce travel of people, trains, and vehicles; eliminate middle wholesalelayers; more efficient accounting and physical distribution; curb
unnecessary production; streamline intermediate distribution; streamline
retail distribution and reduce building space; reduce warehouse spaceand streamline sales and returns distribution; reduce need for vehicle
parts, manufacturing and building equipment, and computers and otheroffice equipment

326.0

2180.5

3

Digitization of data transfer(books, music, video, software)

Reduce need for intermediate distribution; eliminate retail sales; reduce
warehouse space; eliminate brick-and mortar stores; reduce salesdistribution; reduce returns distribution and production of media

1.3

215.2

4

Teleworking, videoconferencing,distance training

Reduce commuting and use of central office through teleworking; reduce
travel through videoconferencing; remote management of vending
machines

78.2

314.1

5

Intelligent transportation
systems (ITS)Reduce traffic congestion; infrastructure and vehicle mounted electronicequipment

28.4

114.3

6

National and local e-government(electronic bidding procedures)

Reduce need to travel

0.0

1.5

587.6

3376.5More efficient distribution

192.41280.5

Reduced movement of people

196.5

553.0

More efficient production

198.7

1543.0

Total
Breakdown* Energy balance tables for Japan.

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References
Jiro Nakamura
[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

J. Romm, A. Rosenfeld, and S. Herrmann, “The Internet Economy
and Global Warming,” The Center for Energy and Climate Solutions,
1999.
J. Nakamura, T. Origuchi, K. Honjo, K. I. Takahashi, and T. Tanaka,“Impact of Spread of Information Communications Technology on
Lifestyle Change,” Proceedings of EcoDesign 2003, pp. 214-215,
Tokyo, Japan, Dec. 2003.
M. Matsumoto, Y. Irie, and J. Fujimoto, “Eco Design of IT society —An analysis of the environmental effects of IT diffusion by using aCGE model,” Proceedings of EcoDesign 2003, pp. 87-88, Tokyo,Japan, Dec. 2003.
M. Nakamura, K.I. Takahashi, S. Nishi, M. Kamekura, and M.
Takeshima, “Life cycle Inventory Study of Teleconference System,”
Proceedings of The Fourth International Conference on EcoBalance,
pp. 529-532, Tsukuba, Japan, Oct.-Nov. 2000.
K. I. Takahashi, J. Nakamura, T. Kunioka, and S. Nishi, “Environmental Impact Assessment for Information Communication Services,” Proceedings of EcoDesign Japan Symposium, pp. 10-11,Tokyo, Japan, Dec. 2002.
J. Nakamura, K. I. Takahashi, K. Honjo, S. Nishi, and T. Kunioka ,Proceedings of Going Green CARE INNOVATION 2002, 16.1,Vienna, Austria, Nov. 2002.
J. Nakamura, T. Origuchi, K. Honjo, Y. Ibata, and S. Nishi, “Macroscopic Analysis of Effect of Information Communication Sector on
CO2 Emission Reduction,” Proceedings of EcoDesign 2003, pp. 8788, Tokyo, Japan, Dec. 2003.
J. Nakamura, K. Honjo, H. Tatemichi, T. Tanaka, Y. Ibata, and S.
Nishi, “Evaluation of Environmental Impact of the Spread of theInformation Communications Service in Japan,” Proceedings of 11Th
SETAC Symposium, pp. 73-74, Lausanne, Switzerland, Dec. 2003.

Vol. 2 No. 4 Apr. 2004

Senior Research Engineer, Supervisor, Environmental Management & Provisioning Project,
NTT Information Sharing Laboratory Group.
He received the B.E., M.E., and Ph.D. degrees
in applied chemistry from Osaka University,
Osaka in 1987, 1989, and 1995, respectively. In
1989, he joined NTT LSI Laboratories, Atsugi,Japan, where he had been working on the development of microfabrication technology. In 2001,
he moved to NTT Information Sharing Laboratory Group. His recent interest focuses on the influence of information and communications technology on the global environment.

Shiro Nishi
Project Manager, Environmental Management& Provisioning Project, NTT Information Sharing Laboratory Group.
He joined the Musashino Electrical Communication Laboratories, NTT in 1985. Since then hehas been engaged in R&D of optical and thermal
polymer, optical adhesives, ionic conductive
polymer, polymer recycling, and lifecycle
assessment. His current interest is the environmental assessment of information communication services.

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