{"id":8406,"date":"2022-06-27T20:10:23","date_gmt":"2022-06-28T00:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ciraig.org\/?p=8406"},"modified":"2025-03-12T08:49:43","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T12:49:43","slug":"environmental-impact-of-teleworking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ciraig.org\/index.php\/blog\/environmental-impact-of-teleworking\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the environmental impact of teleworking?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

State of telework<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A huge increase in the number of teleworkers has been seen with the arrival of the pandemic and containment. But what about before?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016, in Canada, about 14% of employees reported regularly doing at least some teleworking<\/strong>. Elsewhere in the world, the rate varies widely between countries, with Denmark, for example, at about 37%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The typical teleworker profile<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The teleworker often has a management or teaching job. They have a high income and a university degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not just virtual<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Teleworking relies heavily on access to digital technologies that use the Internet<\/strong>. It’s often forgotten, but digital is not just virtual and it has real environmental impacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the environmental impact of digital technology?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The digital sector represents 4% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and could double by 2025<\/strong> (9%\/year increase according to The Shift Project). 80% of these GHG emissions are for video use<\/strong> (streaming, porn, tubes, videoconferencing, etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where do these impacts come from? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In order to access data via the Internet, various parameters are essential. First of all, you need data centers<\/strong> that store all the data in servers as well as a network of routers <\/strong>to circulate the data. Then, you need a computer or a phone<\/strong> to consult the data and, above all, electricity<\/strong> to make it all work.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greenhouse gas emissions over the digital lifecycle are mainly due to the electricity consumed<\/strong> over the entire lifecycle (56%) as well as to the manufacturing of the users’ electronic equipment<\/strong> (40%). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the more data is exchanged, the greater the impact will be<\/strong>, as is the case for videos which require the exchange of a large amount of data. To give an order of magnitude: 10 hours of high-definition (HD) video is equivalent to as much data as ALL of Wikipedia’s English content in text format<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about the impact of technologies used for teleworking?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you have a job that allows you to telework, you often already use a lot of digital technologies without actually teleworking. The main thing that changes when you telework is that you use more digital communication tools<\/strong>: more video conferencing, more instant messaging, more email, more phone calls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s compare the carbon footprint of these different means of communication:<\/p>\n\n\n\n