Helping to protect the climate with green IT

Nothing in the ICT sector functions without energy. However, not every computer or every device is the same. Innovative technology can actually work far more efficiently with the same or improved performance – which is the reason why it is deployed at Deutsche Telekom.

Deutsche Telekom's goal is to make information and communication technologies (ICT) as sustainable as possible. To this end, we optimize the energy balance of our networks and IT infrastructure. At the same time, we offer energy-efficient products that help counteract the depletion of energy resources during their service lives.

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Green technology: Deutsche Telekom aims to make ICT as sustainable as possible.

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Green technology: Deutsche Telekom aims to make ICT as sustainable as possible.

Product carbon footprint
To ensure that it can design climate-friendly products and services, Deutsche Telekom participated in a Product Carbon Footprint pilot project. The carbon footprint is made up of all greenhouse gas emissions that occur during manufacturing, usage and disposal of a product. During this project, Deutsche Telekom analyzed the entire life cycle of T Home's Call & Surf package. The analysis showed that most of the emissions generated by the DSL and fixed network package are due to router operation. Energy-efficient switched-mode power supply units can help reduce energy consumption at precisely this point. Many devices at Deutsche Telekom such as phones and routers are already equipped with this technology. In the future, the results of the pilot project could help to establish the use of standardized product labels that indicate each product's carbon footprint. This would allow buyers to opt for the products that do least harm to the environment. Backers of the project include WWF, the Institute for Applied Ecology (Öko-Institut) and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

Energy-efficient networks
T-Mobile modernized its mobile communications network throughout Germany in 2007. In the course of this change, it replaced its system technology and implemented the efficient Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network at over 20,000 base stations. The GSM network makes it possible to send data in the form of e-mails and images at high speeds via cell phone and, at the same time, saves up to 30-40 percent on energy. This has no impact on the frequency and field strength of the stations. Nor did the move involve a need to find new locations for base stations.

Green data centers
Deutsche Telekom is the first company worldwide to test a biogas-powered fuel cell for use in data centers. At the T-Systems data center in Munich, the fuel cell supplies computers and cooling systems with fully climate-neutral energy. The forage plants that are needed for biogas extraction are cultivated in the area around Munich. The facility is one of a series of projects that T-Systems has launched to ensure that data centers all over the globe can make as sparing use as possible of the available energy. In Singapore, a "green data center" was inaugurated in 2008. The energy-efficient data center operates with cutting-edge technology on an area covering almost 2,800 square meters. Water-based cooling systems, for example, ensure that cooling only takes place where it is needed. What's more, cooling with water makes it possible to operate without the harmful gases used in conventional cooling systems.