Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on Addressing the challenge of energy efficiency through Information and Communication Technologies
Date: 2008-11-27
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: climate change, energy consumption, energy policy, energy saving, energy technology, information technology, innovation, natural resources, research and development, sustainable development

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘Addressing the challenge of energy efficiency through
Information and Communication Technologies’

(2009/C 76/11)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

— notes that managing climate change is one of the most important political challenges facing local and

regional authorities in the years ahead;

— believes that to achieve the ambitious 2020 targets it is necessary to ensure that ICT-enabled solutions

are readily available and also that they are fully deployed;

— stresses that ICTs play an important role in implementing the EU's Sustainable Development Strategy.
They exert a positive impact on development through new technological and commercial innovations
and promote structural changes in the use of natural resources by utilising the most intelligent and
cleanest processes;

— highlights the fact that the vast potential of ICTs to improve energy efficiency boosts Europe's compe-

titiveness and increases business opportunities at local and regional level;

— points out that local and regional authorities have several instruments at their disposal which can help
to exploit to the full the opportunities offered by ICT in managing climate change, such as for
example responsibilities and powers in the fields of land-use planning, energy supply, construction
and transport;

— proposes that in connection with a European event on energy efficiency, an exhibition and competi-
tion could be held for local and regional authorities on the best energy efficiency projects using ICTs,
and is prepared to participate in both the exhibition and the event itself; and that the Commission
draw up a practical guide, together with the Committee of the Regions and other stakeholders, on
how local and regional authorities can exploit ICTs in their climate change plans.

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Rapporteur: Risto KOIVISTO (FI/PES), President of the Tampere Regional Council

Reference document

Addressing the challenge of energy efficiency through Information and Communication Technologies

COM(2008) 241 final

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

The role of local and regional authorities

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

General comments

8.
is convinced that the Commission has made the right
choice in giving priority to cooperation with and input from
urban communities in validating and testing ideas and feels that
this is fully consistent with the Committee's previous comments
on the i2010 strategy;

notes that in its recent opinions it has identified managing
1.
climate change as one of the most important political challenges
facing local and regional authorities in the years ahead;

9.
believes that its precisely the local and regional level of
administration which, because of practical needs, can come up
with the most creative and innovative initiatives in support of
the EU's i2010 strategy;

2.
supports the 2020 targets set by the Council to reduce
emissions by 20 % compared to 1990 levels, to raise the share
of renewable energies in overall EU energy consumption to 20 %
and to achieve 20 % savings in EU energy consumption
compared to projections;

10.
points out that local and regional authorities have several
instruments at their disposal which can help to exploit to the
full
the opportunities offered by ICT in managing climate
change, such as for example responsibilities and powers in the
fields of
land-use planning, energy supply, construction and
transport;

like the Commission, believes that to achieve the ambi-
3.
tious 2020 targets it is necessary to ensure that ICT-enabled
solutions are readily available and also that
they are fully
deployed;

11.
notes that local and regional authorities already make
extensive use of ICTs in many of their activities which have the
effect of reducing energy consumption and emissions, such as
for instance:

4.
reiterates its earlier stand that energy efficiency must be
given priority in all European energy policy choices; is therefore
pleased that the European Commission states in the communi-
cation that it wants to use ICTs to increase the efficiency of
energy production, distribution and trade;

— lighting in public places. For example, text messages or the
Internet can be used to switch on the lighting at outdoor
sports facilities for a fixed period of time and street lighting
can be regulated automatically in accordance with changing
needs;

having drawn special attention to the social and economic
5.
dimensions of ICT in its opinions on the Commission's recent
i2010 initiatives,
is pleased that the Commission now takes
environmental aspects of the information society into account;

6.
stresses that ICTs play an important role in implementing
the EU's Sustainable Development Strategy. They exert a positive
impact on development
and
commercial innovations and promote structural changes in the
use of natural resources by utilising the most intelligent and
cleanest processes;

through new technological

— regulation of heating, air conditioning and lighting in build-
ings. Technology has a particularly important role to play in
buildings which use a lot of energy, such as swimming halls;

— remote surveillance of buildings and other public spaces.
This also provides information on energy use in buildings
and changes therein;

— more environmentally friendly traffic control systems, for
example traffic lights which react to changes in traffic flows
and
traffic
congestion;

information on

systems which

provide

highlights the fact

7.
ICTs to
improve energy efficiency boosts Europe's competitiveness and
increases business opportunities at local and regional level.

the vast potential of

that

— making public transport more competitive. Many local
authorities already offer real-time timetable updates based
on positioning systems and ticket sales on the Internet;

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— development of local logistics. IT can be used to combine
transport operations and various mobile services within a
locality, thereby reducing overall emissions, and to optimise
routes in an environmentally-friendly way;

— raising consumers' awareness. Remote metering can be used
to provide consumers with real-time information which,
through interaction, improves energy efficiency and reduces
emissions;

— energy production and distribution, where IT is already used

to control processes;

12.
endorses the Commission's proposal to give ICT compa-
nies the leading role at this stage in structural change aimed at
reducing the ecological footprint of ICTs;

13.
also draws attention to the great opportunities ICTs offer
local and regional authorities to increase productivity, improve
their services and at the same time reduce energy consumption
and emissions. However, frequently a precondition for being
able to exploit these opportunities is wider structural reform in
administrative practice, such as for example:

— increasing teleworking by making work more flexible;

— switching from paper documents to electronic processing of
affairs, while at the same time reforming both internal and
external procedures;

— provision of a comprehensive range of services covering
different sectors and organisations at one stop shops close
to the public, to which more in-depth expertise and, for
example, interpreting services can be delivered using video
conferencing;

14.
states that Europe's local and regional authorities and
their networks are happy to participate in the ICT consultation
and partnership process relating to energy efficiency and to
disseminate good practice;

15.
urges the Commission, in cooperation with the Member
States, to devise appropriate funding models, which also take
into account the needs of local and regional authorities, and to
make energy efficiency in general and ICT-based solutions in
particular a priority area for all sources of funding.

Other comments

that several

feels that, despite the fact

16.
initiatives are
already underway, transport should have been included in the
communication as one of the areas of focus in the initial stage
as it offers vast potential for energy savings and many opportu-
nities for ICT applications and is crucial from the viewpoint of
local and regional administration;

agrees with the Commission that

17.
to
support the development of computers which consume less
energy and also calls on the Commission to invest in the devel-
opment of methods enabling the more effective recovery of heat
energy generated in large computer rooms;

is important

it

18.
ICTs
in addition to the energy efficiency potential of
highlighted by the Commission, draws attention to the major
impact which the manufacture, transport and destruction of IT
products has on the sector's ecological footprint and considers it
important to try to influence this impact, both through volun-
tary agreements and, where necessary, through legislation;

19.
proposes the drawing up of general guidelines on the
development of research on ICT-enabled energy efficiency, so
that fragmented European, national and regional resources can
be combined to better serve common goals;

20.
emphasises the importance of customer-driven research
and believes that a precondition for its success is close coopera-
tion between scientific research,
ICT and other companies,
energy producers, local and regional authorities and consumer
organisations;

21.
in view of the major importance of local and regional
authorities for energy efficiency, urges that they be given a key
role in the EU's framework research programme and in similar
national framework programmes and, above all,
in the large-
scale pilots for tracking the ecological footprint of ICTs referred
to in the communication;

22.
is concerned that, despite the importance of the matter
at hand, not enough has been invested in the roll-out of innova-
tions in the form of mass market products and services, and
notes that local and regional authorities, in addition to playing a
pioneering role in exploiting innovations, can offer companies
in the sector a positive economic environment;

23.
considers the lack of common standards to be a major
problem from the viewpoint of market growth, especially in
technology areas closely associated with local and regional
administration, such as for example smart building control
systems, lighting control and traffic systems. The lack of stan-
dards prevents technical interoperability, limits market competi-
tion and hampers public procurement;

that

points out

the priority areas mentioned by the
24.
Commission lack standard measuring methods enabling local
and regional authorities to evaluate the usefulness of different
solutions;

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notes that distributed energy generation at

25.
local and
regional level is appropriate from the point of view of electricity
generation and security and offers an opportunity to combine
different means of production. Therefore it warmly endorses the
Commission's plan to increase the exchange of information and
good practice in new ICT-based business models for distributed
generation and to invest in related research and development;

points out that the communication makes no mention of
26.
promoting green ICTs in public procurement and calls for the
development of procedures which would make it easier than at
present for local and regional authorities to give priority to
energy efficiency in public procurement, especially in the pre-
and to related ICT
commercial procurement procedure,
development;

27.
welcomes the Commission's remark in the communica-
tion that it expects close cooperation with the Committee of the
Regions and proposes that:

— in connection with a European event on energy efficiency,
an exhibition and competition could be held for local and
regional authorities on the best energy efficiency projects
using ICTs, and is prepared to participate in both the exhibi-
tion and the event itself;

— the Commission draw up a practical guide, together with the
Committee of the Regions and other stakeholders, on how
ICTs in their
local and regional authorities can exploit
climate change plans;

proposes that in its next communication on ICTs and the

28.
environment, due in spring 2009, the Commission:

— extend the scope of the communication from energy effi-

ciency to sustainable development;

— append to it a concrete action plan containing specific goals,

measures and deadlines;

— include as new areas, at a minimum, transport and the

needs for change in public administration practices;

— take into consideration the role and needs of

local and

regional administration.

Committee of the Regions' main views

29.
As already pointed out by the Committee on previous
occasions, energy efficiency and increased use of renewable
energy must be a key element of European energy policy. Step-

Brussels, 27 November 2008.

ping up investment in ICTs that boost energy efficiency enables
local and regional authorities to manage climate change, to
increase distributed energy generation and to reduce energy
consumption and offers new business opportunities for local
companies;

importance

attaches great

The Committee

to the
30.
Commission's plans
to draw on the experience of urban
communities in validating and testing ideas and to work
together with them and existing networks of local and regional
authorities. Because of their many roles (such as e.g. regulator,
consumer, service provider, energy user and supplier, initiator,
expert and provider of guidelines), local and regional authorities
have many reasons to wholeheartedly support the full exploita-
tion of
to increase energy efficiency. The
Committee will endeavour to use all the means at its disposal to
raise awareness of these opportunities among urban commu-
nities and networks of local and regional authorities and will
encourage them to take part in the partnership process;

ICT in efforts

31.
The Committee hopes that the Commission will devote
more effort to establishing standards in this field so that local
and regional authorities have access to products with better
interoperability. Standardisation and quality criteria also help to
foster competition in the market and make it easier for authori-
ties to purchase products which have a beneficial
impact on
energy efficiency;

32.
As part of their joint responsibility for the environment,
local and regional authorities could, with the support of the EU
and Member States, act as a pioneer and set examples for others
by using ICTs to improve energy efficiency. This pioneering role
would include establishing a new partnership with ICT compa-
nies and energy producers, making public buildings energy-
smart, introducing smart lighting in public places and increasing
energy efficiency in administration and service provision;

33.
The Committee proposes that in its next communication
on this subject the European Commission could publish the
EU's action plan for using ICT to promote sustainable develop-
ment. The Committee believes that it is essential that the overall
analysis also cover transport and that the action plan include an
extensive e-strategy for
reducing carbon dioxide emissions,
quantitative sectoral targets for these emissions and measures to
be taken by the EU and Members States to achieve these targets
and, further, that it define indicators for monitoring progress.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Luc VAN DEN BRANDE