Life Cycle Assessment of CO2 Emissions of Online Music and Videos Streaming in Japan

Tomohiro Tabata,Tse Yu Wang

doi:10.3390/app11093992

Abstract

In this study, we analyzed the CO2 emissions of online music and video streaming services, as one of the digital contents, in Japan using life cycle assessment. As a system boundary of online music and video streaming, processes such as data center construction and server manufacturing, usage of communication networks and internet communication technology devices (personal computers (PCs) and smartphones), and disposal of data centers and servers were considered. Data were collected using statistical and online surveys, and CO2 emissions per 1 MB of communication volume were calculated. One of the results revealed that the lifecycle CO2 emissions of listening to online music using PCs and smartphones were 5.88 × 10−4 and 1.43 × 10−4 kg-CO2/MB, respectively. The overall CO2 emissions for domestic music and video streaming services in 2019 was 921 thousand t-CO2. Online video streaming accounted for 87.7% of the total emissions, which corresponded to approximately 0.23% of domestic CO2 emissions derived from electric power generation.

Highlights

According to the Paris Agreement, adopted at COP21 (21st Conference of the Parties) in 2015, all countries should limit the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 ◦C above the pre-industrial levels and to 1.5 ◦C higher [1]
information and communication technology (ICT) provides various services, and this study focused on online music and video streaming
We aimed to examine CO2 emissions associated with online music and video streaming using life cycle assessment (LCA)

Summary

Introduction

According to the Paris Agreement, adopted at COP21 (21st Conference of the Parties) in 2015, all countries should limit the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 ◦C above the pre-industrial levels and to 1.5 ◦C higher [1] Based on this agreement, Japan set a goal for “carbon neutrality” to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to neutrally zero by 2050 [2]. Society 5.0 was defined as a “human-centered society that achieves both economic development and resolution of social issues through a system that highly integrates cyber space and physical space” [3] This initiative is expected to reduce GHG emissions by utilizing information and communication technology (ICT). Examples of CO2 emissions reduction using ICT are adaptation in the household electricity sector [4] and the spread of mobile phones in developing countries [5]

Objectives

Methods

Results