Reducing carbon emissions

The SMART 2020 report estimated that, in 2020, wise use of digital technology could reduce the world’s carbon emissions by up to 15 per cent below what they would otherwise have been. This could include using teleworking and videoconferencing to reduce travel, improving energy efficiency with digital building management systems that control heating and lighting, and making transport more efficient through smart logistics.

The government is committed to promoting teleworking in government and businesses.
The Ministry of Economic Development will lead a programme of work on teleworking that will include identifying benefits and opportunities for teleworking in New Zealand and actions
to increase awareness and facilitate take-up.

This programme will be coordinated with the Connected New Zealand initiative to reach small and medium enterprises. In addition, government agencies are accelerating their adoption of videoconferencing and will work to increase use and sharing of these facilities. Increased use of videoconferencing will contribute to achieving the carbon neutral public service goal of six core agencies being carbon neutral by 2012 and all other public service agencies being on a path towards carbon neutrality.

The smart electricity grid of the future will also use digital technologies to monitor, predict and manage demand for electricity, enabling more efficient transmission and better matching of generation to demand. The Electricity Commission has issued guidelines for smart meter systems, to encourage open and competitive access to this new metering infrastructure.

Case studies about teleworking and using digital technology to monitor drinking water quality.