Following on from yesterday’s comments about using machine-to-machine communications to cut greenhouse gases, Vodafone has published a report that says mobile technology could cut Europe’s annual energy bill by at least €43 billion. Its “Carbon Connections” report, produced in collaboration with Symbian’s new friends at Accenture, also reckons we could reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 113Mt CO2e by 2020. That’s around 2.4% of anticipated EU emissions in 2020.
80% of the savings would come from machine-to-machine services, with the additional 20% coming from ‘dematerialisation’; substituting physical goods and processes with ‘virtual’ alternatives, such as video-conferencing or online shopping. [Press release; pdf report]