### 3. Green ICT-related policies of various countries

Currently, the US, the EU and other developed countries and regions have been launching Green ICT-related policies as a part of national strategy. Here, we will introduce the Green ICT policies of the US and the UK, which are seen as being particularly forward-thinking in terms of Green ICT policy implementation.

## (1) The US

### A. The Green New Deal Policy

Recognizing that the US is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the Green New Deal stimulus package seeks to turn efforts to reduce environmental burden into a means of revitalizing industry. In January 2009, a 150 billion dollar (approximately 13.5 trillion yen), ten-year investment in renewable energy and the creation of five million “green jobs” were publicly announced, and at the end of 2010, a package providing for 2.5 million jobs related to improving the energy efficiency of public facilities was announced as well. The Green New Deal Policy has attracted widespread interest around the world for its declaration of enormous sums of money toward the government-led effort to create jobs out of environmental business.

### B. The Smart Grid concept

In the US, the existing electrical infrastructure is becoming increasingly decrepit, and the construction of a highly reliable, efficient and clean next-generation Smart Grid is being pursued, incorporating proactive utilization of ICT, optimization of transmission networks and resources, introduction of advanced electrical storage technology such as electric vehicles, timely supply of electric power information and electric power management capabilities to consumers. The Smart Grid concept was first advocated in the December 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act, and 11 billion dollars (approximately 990 billion yen) are set aside for smart grid-related projects in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of February 2009.

In addition, President Barack Obama in October 2009 announced that about 3.4 billion dollars (around 306 billion yen) in grants would be earmarked for 100 smart grid projects administered by electric companies and city governments, among others. In concrete terms, this entails subsidization of the introduction of 200,000 of the smart transformers essential to electric power companies' administration of transmission and distribution networks, 850 transmission grid sensors, and 700 automated substation systems, as well as 18 million smart meters that help manage electricity consumption in homes, one million home-use displays, 170,000 smart thermostats, and 175,000 load control units. With around 200 American companies and communities involved in the project, it is expected to generate tens of thousands of jobs $ ^{8} $ .

### C. Save Energy Now (in Data Centers)

Save Energy Now in Data Centers is a US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program building on the recognition that while data centers are a rapidly growing segment of the US economy, they consume massive amounts of energy and are in need of improved energy efficiency. The program contains a wide range of supportive measures to this end. Specifically, these include providing electricity consumption measurement devices free of charge, providing best practice examples of power consumption reduction methods, honoring data centers achieving major reductions in power consumption with awards, paying grants to state governments that support the program, and implementation of a Data Center Certified Energy Practitioner Program.

Through these support measures, the EPA aims to reduce annual power consumption at US data centers by 10 billion kWh by 2011.