Digital Britain delivers mixed bag for green technologies

The government has today reiterated its commitment to procuring green IT and communications technologies, accelerating the roll out of smart meters, and reducing the energy footprint of mobile phone networks as part of its long anticipated Digital Britain strategy.

However, the new whitepaper is likely to attract criticism from some green groups and IT firms for largely failing to highlight the environmental benefits associated with digital technologies.

Speaking at the launch of the report, communications minister Lord Carter said that the government's digital strategy would deliver environmental benefits, primarily through its commitment to ensure the technologies procured through its £200m roll out of universal broadband access and £1bn to £1.5bn programme to deliver next generation high speed broadband connectivity meet the "highest environmental standards".

"We will expect that tender process to maximise the delivery of technology solutions that meet the highest environmental standards and act as a way of priming new environmental technologies," he said.

He added that the government would also support efforts to cut carbon emissions and energy use across mobile base stations, some of which rely on diesel generators.

The report cites evidence that a typical UK mobile radio operator's network produces 200,000 tons of carbon emission per year and commits to supporting efforts to curb emissions from the sector.

It says the government will "be more supportive of infrastructure sharing where traffic levels are light" and promote more energy efficient next Generation Mobile Networks "so as to provide conditions for earlier generation mobile networks to be phased out much more quickly".

The report also reiterates the government's target to roll out smart meter technologies to all households by 2020 - a move it claims will "help consumers to change their energy habits ... and will provide a stepping stone to the smart grids of the future".

However, the report largely fails to recognise the wider environmental benefits that should arise from a strategy intended to deliver universal broadband access by 2012 and provide fresh impetus to the UK's creative and technology industries.

Only one page of the 245 page report contains references to climate change and carbon emissions, while there is scant mention of the reduction in travel and greenhouse gases associated with digital-enabled business models and technologies, such as home working, video conferencing and online shopping.