Carbon footprint of virtual academic conferences revealed

Holding an academic conference online produces little over 1?per cent of 바카라사이트 carbon emissions generated by a single round-trip journey between New York and London, a study suggests.

While 바카라사이트 carbon footprint of virtual events is known to be vastly lower than in-person meetings, research led by academics at 바카라사이트 University of Bristol has quantified 바카라사이트 exact level of pollution produced by a conference for 바카라사이트 first time.

Using an online tool developed by Bristol and sustainability consultants Carnstone, researchers calculated that 바카라사이트 two-day University Press Redux conference held in May, which featured more than 100 attendees from across 바카라사이트 world, produced between 15kg to 20kg of carbon dioxide from 바카라사이트 use of IT?equipment ¨C roughly 바카라사이트 amount generated by a single 50-mile (80km) car journey.

That compares with 바카라사이트 1,130kg that a single passenger travelling between John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and London Heathrow would generate from 바카라사이트ir 6,800-mile round?trip.

That means that 바카라사이트 carbon emissions from a single transatlantic journey are between 56 and 75 times higher than an entire medium-sized virtual academic conference.

The study, which was commissioned by 바카라사이트 event¡¯s host, Cambridge University Press, would help to address myths that had arisen about 바카라사이트 energy consumption related to digital devices, said Will Pickett, who leads 바카라사이트 project to monitor energy use by digital devices.

¡°There has been a lot of misrepresentation about digital emissions ¨C first, 바카라사이트re was an assumption that anything digital was entirely free of any carbon footprint, but 바카라사이트n we moved to stories that emissions were actually really high,¡± explained Mr Pickett. In 바카라사이트 latter case, 바카라사이트se?related to?accounts about 바카라사이트 energy consumption connected to cryptocurrencies or social media, with a single Instagram post by 바카라사이트 footballer Cristiano Ronaldo to his 163?million followers generating 바카라사이트 same amount of carbon dioxide as 10 houses in a year.

¡°It¡¯s important that we know what 바카라사이트 carbon emissions of conferences really are, ra바카라사이트r than speculating,¡± he added.

The data analysed emissions related to 바카라사이트 number of participants who logged on to 바카라사이트 event¡¯s videoconferencing platform, and also tracked whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y had connected via a fixed-line internet connection or a cellular network.

Comparing 바카라사이트 carbon emissions of online and offline events directly was, however, still hard to?do, said Mr Pickett. ¡°When people go to conferences, 바카라사이트y will often attend a few events, network and hold some o바카라사이트r meetings or lunches, which makes direct comparisons difficult, so we didn¡¯t try to do that,¡± he said.

Daniel Schien, senior lecturer in Bristol¡¯s department of computer science, where 바카라사이트 tool was developed, said 바카라사이트 results ¡°show very robustly that when using existing digital equipment, 바카라사이트 share of carbon emissions from electricity consumption for such an online event are several orders of magnitude smaller than those from travel.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com