Sustainable video conferencing and events
How sustainable is your
Conference?
Sure: video conferences are super energy-efficient and save a lot of CO2 – or is it?
1. videoconferences are usually more climate-friendly than a meeting with travel
A study by Jens Clausen and Stefanie Schramm of the Borderstep Institute of 2021 shows the savings potential of video conferencing.
Examples from the study
- Starting from 5 kilometers journey with a passenger car the virtual meeting already pays off
- A journey of two people by train from Stuttgart to Berlin causes about 65 kilograms of CO2
- A video conference for four hours with four people causes about 1 kilogram of CO2 (Demand in the data center plus end devices and communication paths)
2. CO2-Emissions from video conferencing
We charge per participant around 10 g CO2-emission per hour. The figure is based on the study of the Fraunhofer IZM and the Ökoinstitut for the German Federal Environment Agency as well as the consideration of climeet.net
3. business travel and commuting account for 75 % of operational CO2-emissions caused
"Compared to physical travel (primarily by air or car), digital meetings reduce CO2-Thus, digital meetings are an important lever for companies to support climate protection and a substantial contribution to the energy and transport transition." climeet.net
4. rebound effect in video conferencing
In energy economics, the rebound effect refers to effects that result in potential savings not being realized or only partially realized. For example, some of the energy saved through video conferencing is consumed again by the increase in digital meetings. In the Borderstep study, this rebound effect is described as rather small.
The most important factors for:
The basis for green videoconferencing is green IT technology.
Other considerations for energy efficiency primarily concern the amount of data during transmission. The larger the video image, the better the picture and sound quality, the higher the power consumption. Here, of course, we as technicians are in the dilemma of wanting to offer the best quality.
The basis for green live events is green arrival and departure.
At a live event, almost every detail offers further – often significant – savings potential, and more and more players in the event scene are recognizing their responsibility and the potential for a sustainable event landscape.
Sustainability considers more than just ecological concerns
Social justice, diversity, gender diversity, accessibility, personal data protection, common good and equitable exchange. We are living in a new event and conference reality – and it is the best we have had so far.
