What the Latest Research on Streaming Emissions Tells Us

In 2021, Carbon Trust, one of the world’s most trusted think tanks on product carbon footprinting, produced a white paper called Carbon Impacts of Video Streaming. With input from the International Energy Agency, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, University of Bristol, and data from BBC, BT, Ericsson, ITV, NENT, Netflix and Sky, they concluded that the average carbon footprint of streaming one hour of video is significantly lower than some had assumed¹, roughly equivalent to three boils of an electric kettle in the UK (more here). 

While the Carbon Trust study helped answer the trending question back in 2021, "how much does video streaming impact the environment?" it didn’t answer the next logical question, "what should we do about that environmental impact?" That question is of utmost importance to the four industries that contribute to the lifecycle emissions of internet-based services like streaming: 1) data center operators, 2) internet service providers, 3) device manufacturers, and 4) electric utilities. Decarbonizing internet services requires concerted efforts across all four industries, especially device manufacturers, as the Carbon Trust study showed that devices within the home drive almost 90% of emissions².

To enable evidence-based policymaking, DIMPACT.org worked with its academic advisors Dr. Daniel Schien, Dr. Jonathan Koomey, Jens Malmodin, along with companies including BT, Orange, TalkTalk, BBC, Spotify and Netflix³ to produce a new Literature Review and Policy Principles for Streaming and Digital Media Carbon Footprinting.  

Summary of Key Takeaways from DIMPACT’s Literature Review

1. The energy consumption of data centers and networks is currently about 2-3% of global electricity consumption, driving 0.6% of total GHG emissions. We are committed as a sector to work across the value chain to reduce these emissions because climate change has reached such crisis proportions, and thus calls for an "all-of-society approach" (UN Environment Programme). This will likely be achieved in part through 'the enabling effect' of ICT⁴ to drive decarbonization of carbon-intensive industries (e.g. smart technologies and control systems to minimize industrial and built environment emissions, real-time load balancing to maximize renewables use on grids, smart mobility and logistics, etc.) 

2. Two industries in this value chain are seeing particularly rapid decarbonization due to an intense focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy.

• Data centers: The latest research shows that the energy intensity of global data centers has decreased by 20% annually since 2010, a notable improvement compared with recent annual efficiency gains in other major demand sectors (e.g., aviation and industry), which are an order of magnitude lower⁵. 

• Internet service providers: ISPs are making significant energy efficiency and decarbonization progress; T-Mobile, Vodafone Europe, and BT Group already operate on 100% renewable energy, and their relative energy consumption per network demand is decreasing⁶. This decoupling of data traffic demand and energy is already evident to researchers. For example, BT Group’s energy consumption (~90% from network operations) has reduced on average by 1.5% per year over the past five years, despite increases in data traffic⁷. In France, the French Federation of Telecoms reported a doubling of data traffic between 2015 and 2019 without growth of energy consumption.

3. The latest research shows that governments can help maximize the emissions reductions benefits in the digital sector by focusing on four principles: 

• Principle 1: Expand access to shared, contemporary data… that is no more than 1-2 years old and which does not compromise competitive and proprietary information.

• Principle 2: Ensure appropriate modeling for decision making… through continued research to avoid oversimplified and biased results.

• Principle 3: Institute energy efficiency requirements… for devices and infrastructure (TVs, data centers, internet networks, home devices, etc.)

• Principle 4: Prioritize broad availability of Low Carbon and Renewable Energy… for companies that operate large-scale infrastructure (data centers and internet networks) and for consumers since most streaming emissions come from inside the home.

Looking ahead, Netflix remains committed to reducing our carbon footprint — which stems primarily from the making of film & television (see annual ESG reports here) — and to spurring the value chain of internet-based services at the speed prescribed by climate science.