UKNM: feel good about what you do:

[Robin Grant]

E-commerce "to benefit the environment"

-------------------------

More internet shopping will cut energy use and greenhouse

gas emissions, according to a Swedish study.  Carried out

for the Swedish environmental protection agency by the

University of Lund, the investigation is one of the first in

the world to project likely environmental impacts of

e-commerce, and confirms similar predictions made by US

researchers.


If Swedish internet grocery shopping expands as projected

from its current vestigial level to 10% of the market,

overall energy consumed in grocery shopping should be cut by

5-7%, the report says.  Meanwhile, emissions of carbon

dioxide and nitrogen dioxide would fall by 4% and 9%

respectively.  The main cause of these trends would be more

rational transport patterns, the researchers say.


E-commerce's capacity to deliver environmental benefits

depends on population density and market penetration, the

study concludes.  If internet grocery shopping took a 50%

market share then environmental benefits would be higher and

extend to areas with lower population densities.

Conversely, at low market penetration the net impact could

even be negative in very sparsely populated regions.


Nevertheless, the study's main conclusions seem to confirm

US research, including a study published in December by

think tank the Center for Energy and Climate Solutions.

This suggested that growing consumer and

business-to-business e-commerce would lower demand for

commercial building space by 5%, saving 53bn kWh of

electricity through lower operations and maintenance needs.


Coupled with reductions in transport and the probable

"dematerialisation" of some industries - such as compact

disc manufacture - this could lead to a significant downward

revision in energy and carbon dioxide emission forecasts,

the study predicted.


Back in Europe, the UK government will tomorrow announce

funding for a one-year inquiry into environmental and social

implications of growing e-commerce, focusing on what it will

mean for energy use, transport, planning and social

inclusion.  Coordinated by environmental NGO Forum for the

Future, the project will aim to set out an "agenda for a

sustainable digital economy".


Follow-up:  Swedish EPA (http://www.environ.se), tel: +46 8

698 1000;  Center for Energy and Climate Solutions

(http://www.cool-companies.org), tel: +1 703 750 6401, see

also the group's E-commerce study

(http://www.cool-companies.org/ecom/pr.cfm);  Forum for the

Future (http://www.forumforthefuture.org.uk), tel: +44 1242

262010.


:)


Robin

____________________________________________________

robin grant / mobile: +44 7973 638 390 / icq: 362763

----------------------->  http://www.perfect.co.uk/

   



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