The total life cycle carbon footprint of the ICT (information and communication technology) sector is approximately 730 million tonnes CO2 equivalent (Mt CO2-eq) - or 1.4 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions. This numerically compares to the emissions produced from burning fuel across the aviation industry, which were reported to be about 800Mt CO2 in 2015. In terms of numbers, the carbon emissions comparison makes sense. Comparing the two industries is not fair, however, when their scales are considered, as a significantly lower number of people use aviation services compared to ICT services. 70% of people globally currently use ICT, while it is estimated that only 10 percent of the global population use aviation services (i.e. airplane travel) each year, with only the wealthiest 1 percent being frequent flyers. So, if all the global ICT users were to use aviation services, the industries emissions would be far greater than ICT. In addition, if the ICT industry and its users only consumed electricity produced by renewable energy sources, more than 80% of ICT’s carbon footprint could be reduced - making its emissions much lower than the aviation industry.
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