Energy and CO2 Implications of Music Delivery Options

Jonathan Koomey

Visiting Professor, Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies

October 6, 2009

Outline Introduction

This talk adapted from one given by Chris Weber of Carnegie Mellon University in early October 2009

Report itself downloadable at http://www.intel.com/pressroom/kits/ecotech

Previous work of environmental effects of ICT Modeled Scenarios Data and Assumptions Results Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis Summary

3

World data center electricity use doubled between 2000 and 2005

Source: Koomey 2008

Environmental Implications of ICT Increasing interest of how informational and

communication technology (ICT) effects the environment Previous studies have assessed:

Telecommuting vs. commuting (Atkyns 2002) Online vs. traditional retail (Matthews 2001, Abukhader 2004) Electronic delivery of news (Toffel 2004) Online vs traditional DVD rental (Sivaraman 2007) Material intensity of online music (Turk 2003)

Generally ICT has won by: Dematerialization Reduced Logistics

However, continuing energy use rise of internet data centers and personal ICT products -> renewed interest in issue

4

Goal and Scope of this study Examine as realistically as possible cumulative energy and CO2

emissions for delivery of 1 album of music via 6 alternative scenarios: 1) Album packaged on CD and delivered via traditional retail

methods 2) Album published on CD and delivered by light-duty truck

through an online e-tail provider 3) Album published on CD and delivered by express air through an

online e-tail provider 4) Album downloaded as mp3/mp4 files from an online music

service and used digitally 5) Album downloaded as mp3/mp4 files from an online music

service and burned to CD-R for digital and CD use (no CD packaging) 6) Album downloaded as mp3/mp4 files from an online music

service and burned to CD-R for digital and CD use, stored in individual CD packaging, i.e., slimline jewel cases

System Diagrams shown below

Traditional Retail ModelRecordin

g

Liner Printing

CD Producti

on

Plastic Wrap

Jewel Case

Vis Artist

CD Printing

Warehousing

Retailing

Disposal

Use

System Boundary

Packaging Logistic

s along arrows

E-commerce Delivery ModelRecordin

g

Liner Printing

CD Producti

on

Plastic Wrap

Jewel Case

Vis Artist

CD Printing

Warehousing

Home CPU and -ordering

Logistics Warehouse

Use

Disposal

System Boundary

Packaging Logistic

s along arrows

Online Music Model

Recording Vis Artist

Digital Music Server

Home CPU and

DC-ordering

Use

Online Music

System Boundary

Functional Unit Question Assumption: After burning digital album on CD,

functionally equivalent Can use in either digital or CD format

Because of this, can ignore production of laptop, CD player, iPod, etc.

Sound quality not similar but do consumers care? In practice, probably used differently

Digital downloads used more in computers and digital music players

CDs used more in cars, CD decks, etc

Assumptions and Data Gather >3 primary data points and assume triangular

distribution Monte Carlo simulation Production location varied through assumed grid mix

uncertainty (300-900 g CO2e/kWh) Data gathered for

CD and packaging production (reports, Ecoinvent, IO-LCA) Cardboard packaging for retail/etail (EPA WARM, EDF Paper

Calculator) Distances and delivery energy (Logistics companies,

GREET, previous work), large range Warehouse and Retail store energy use (gov’t sources,

previous work) Home CPU use for ordering (assumption range, Energy

Star data)

Internet Backbone Energy Use Taylor and Koomey (2008) Assume 60-100 MB album size (iTunes,

Amazon averages)

Customer Transport Shown in previous work to be significant in

logistics Difficult to model given large variation in fuel

economy, distance, etc

Assumed model simulates distance, fuel economy, passengers per vehicle, and purchased items per person using realistic ranges

Assumed correlation in distance and items/person-trip and distance to retail/distance for etail delivery

Results

Cumulative Energy Demand/album

Similar for CO2 emissions

Summary Statistics CD/packaging production: 32-69% of total Customer Transport and Last Mile: 52% of

retail, 24-28% etail Other significant contributors (Retail/Etail)

Warehousing Retail Store Individual cardboard packaging (Etail)

Upstream internet usage: As important as CD/CD-R production

Uncertainty and Variability Rank correlation importance shows variable’s

contribution to uncertainty/variability

Effect of Correlated Errors

-500 0 500 1000 1500 20000%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Difference 6-2, g CO2e/album

Cu

mu

lati

ve

Pro

bab

ilit

y

Discussion Dematerialization increases environmental

performance but partially offset by internet energy use

Sensitivity—what parameters could flip result Retail with zero customer transport emissions

(bicycle/walk) 5 hours of web browsing for online shopping 260 MB data transfer (lossless files)

Suggested Future Work: Customer usage patterns: are they different? Other types of online music: single song vs album,

subscription, etc Energy use of streaming audio/video—large upstream

data transfer

Questions

Contact: clweber@cmu.edu, jgkoomey@gmail.com

Reference for article: Weber, Christopher, Jonathan G. Koomey, and Scott Matthews. 2009. The Energy and Climate Change Impacts of Different Music Delivery Methods. Analytics Press.  August 17. <http://www.intel.com/pressroom/kits/ecotech>

References Abukhader, S., and G. Jonson. 2004. "E-tail and the Environment: a Gateway to the Renewal of

Greening Supply Chains."  International Journal of Technology Management.  vol. 28, pp. 274-288. 

Atkyns, Robert, Michele Blazek, and Joseph Roitz. 2002. "Measurement of environmental impacts of telework adoption amidst change in complex organizations: AT&T survey methodology and results."  Resources, Conservation, and Recycling.  vol. 36, no. 3. October. pp. 267-285. 

Koomey, Jonathan. 2008. "Worldwide electricity used in data centers."  Environmental Research Letters.  vol. 3, no. 034008. September 23. <http://stacks.iop.org/1748-9326/3/034008>

Matthews, H. Scott, Chris T. Hendrickson, and Denise L. Soh. 2001. "Environmental and Economic Effects of E-Commerce: A Case Study of Book Publishing and Retail Logistics."  Transportation Research Record 1763.  pp. 6-12. 

Sivaraman, D, S Pacca, K Mueller, and J Lin. 2007. "Comparative Energy, Environmental, and Economic Analysis of Traditional and E-Tail DVD Rental Networks."  Journal of Industrial Ecology.  vol. 11, pp. 77-91. 

Taylor, Cody, and Jonathan Koomey. 2008. Estimating energy use and greenhouse gas emissions of Internet advertising. Working paper for IMC2.  February 14. <http://imc2.com/Documents/CarbonEmissions.pdf>

Toffel, M.W., and A. Horvath. 2004. "Environmental Implications of Wireless Technologies: News Delivery and Business Meetings."  Environmental Science & Technology.  vol. 38, no. 11. pp. 2961-2970. 

Turk, V., V. Alakeson, M. Kuhndt, and M. Rithoff. 2003. The Environmental and Social Impacts of Digital Music: A Case Study with EMI. Wuppertal, Germany: Digital Europe.