Romm, J. 2002. The Internet and the New Energy Economy. Sustainability at the Speed of Light. Sweden, WWF.
In the period from 1996 to 1999, there was a drop of 3.2% per year in energy intensity, which is a measure of the amount of energy required to produce one output of GDP.
"Growth in the Internet Economy can cut energy intensity in two ways. First, the IT sector is less energy-intensive than traditional manufacturing, so growth in this sector engenders less incremental energy consumption. Second, the Internet Economy appears to be increasing efficiency in every sector of the economy, which is the primary focus of this paper" (131).
"In the late 1990s, a startling shift appeared in the statistics. The nation's energy intensity dropped 3.7% in 1997 and 3.9% in 1998. It is unprecedented for the US economy to see such improvements in energy intensity during a period of low energy prices and relatively low public awareness of energy issues" (133).
"Analysis by EPA and the Argonne National Laboratory suggests that one third to one half of the recent improvements in energy intensity are 'structural.' Structural gains occur when economic growth shifts to sectors of the economy that are not particularly energy intensive--such as the IT sector, including computer manufacturing and software--as opposed to more energy-intensive sectors, including chemicals, pulp and paper industry, and construction" (135).
Thus, one third to one half of the 3.2% average decline from 96-99 are structural, of which the internet economy represents an ambiguous portion.
"The Internet does not consume 8% of US electricity as Mills claims. The Koomey et al. analysis showed that this estimate is too large by a factor of eight. Computers, office equipment, and the like do not consume 13% of electricity, as Mills claim; a better number is 3%" (146).
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