Australia’s communications minister Stephen Conroy says broadband will underpin the emerging low-carbon economy.

 

The minister, pitching the government’s planned A$43 billion ($32.2 billion) next-gen broadband network program, said broadband, “like electricity in the century past, has the potential to drive innovation, productivity, efficiency and employment across the economy.”

 

Digital technologies would transform health care, education, secure investments in infrastructure, and “underpin our future carbon-constrained economy,” Conroy said in a speech to the National Press Club.

 

“The fact is, broadband is green technology… it is an enabler of efficiencies that could drive major reductions in carbon emissions,” he said.

 

In the energy sector, providers plan to use broadband to improve the way they monitor and manage power distribution. Using broadband to connect power consumers with power generators allows them to harness ways to make distribution more efficient and reliable.

 

He said broadband would support de-centralized business districts and increased use of renewable energy as well as energy-saving initiatives such as:

 

“Smart grids connected by broadband raise the potential to not only monitor energy use but to allow remote adjustment of lights or temperature. For households this means opportunities for reduced power consumption and costs,” Conroy said.

 

“Remote control of connected appliances, thermostats and electric meters will help energy companies balance the peaks and troughs of daily usage. This in turn allows them to sell the recovered power on the market, reducing the need for new power generators.”

 

It meant the real possibility of significant carbon emission reductions in countries that widely adopt broadband.

 

He said a report by the Fibre-to-the-Home Council found that by 2015 10% of a forecast 20 million FTTH users in Europe could be using teleworking three days a week. This would save an estimated 330kg in greenhouse gas emission savings per user, equivalent to a car traveling 2,000 kilometers, the minister said.

 

An Australian consultancy, Climate Risk, had estimated that local energy and travel savings alone could be worth up to A$6.6 billion ($4.9 billion) annually.