[LINK] Internet of Things and the environment
stephen at melbpc.org.au
stephen at melbpc.org.au
Thu Mar 24 18:31:51 AEDT 2011
Quote:
"For every tenth of a percent increase in broadband penetration across a
country, its sustainable gross domestic product increases by around one
percent. Every 1,000 new broadband connections creates another 80 jobs."
How the Internet of things could save the environment
By Matthew Lynley at VentureBeat Wed Mar 23, 2011 12:23pm EDT
<http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/23/idUS3370623720110323>
Thats because having all those devices connected to a network will make
it easier to run more efficiently any number of aspects of life that have
an impact on the environment.
That can range from power grids, to traffic, or to fuel efficiency.
The biggest opportunity lies in placing all those devices on a smart
grid a highly efficient power grid that uses advanced programs and
wirelessly connected devices to distribute power without wasting it.
Vestberg made these comments at the CTIA Wireless 2011 conference in
Orlando, Fla.
"In the next 5 years, we expect two-thirds of all electronics will have
some connectivity in them," Vestberg said. "That means we can use a much
more powerful grid in our society and reduce our impact on the
environment drastically."
Theres also a holistic opportunity to reduce the impact that other
connected devices such as vehicles have on the environment, he said.
One way would be to give drivers the ability to "download" more
horsepower to their vehicles when they need it, like when they are going
on a long trip or going up a hill. If they dont require it, the car
automatically restricts that horsepower increasing fuel efficiency and
reducing carbon emissions. "We can increase safety and improve (carbon)
emissions by keeping wasteful habits in check," he said.
Thats quite a potential impact, too the average American spends around
45 hours in a car each month, Vestberg said.
There are also around 250 million registered vehicles in the United
States, and many of them dont meet emission standards and are not very
environmentally friendly or fuel-efficient.
Theres a huge opportunity in expanding the "Internet of Things," a short-
hand way of describing a massive wireless network where most electronics
and devices are connected to the Internet.
For every tenth of a percent increase in broadband penetration across a
country, its sustainable gross domestic product a measure of a
countrys output increases by around 1 percent. Every 1,000 new
broadband connections, whether they are mobile or fixed, also creates
another 80 jobs, Vestberg said.
That means that theres a huge untapped market in the United States
alone. There are entire sections of rural America that dont have access
to broadband, and coverage is pretty weak in some parts of the country.
Connecting all those remote and weakly covered areas would add another 10
million jobs in the United States which is pretty significant given
that the unemployment rate still remains high at 8.9 percent.
The wireless industry accounts for around 2 percent of all carbon
emissions today, Vestberg said.
There are around 1 billion mobile broadband users today, and that number
should go up to around 5 billion broadband users by 2016, Vestberg said.
Around 85 percent of the planet has mobile coverage, and it will reach
around 90 percent in 5 years with around 8 billion active mobile
subscriptions, up from 5.3 billion mobile subscriptions today.
"For the ones good in math, theres not that many people on the planet,"
Vestberg said. "People are going to have several devices with so many
different types of descriptions, and anything that benefits from being
connected will be connected."
This post is sponsored by Sprint, the Now Network. As always, VentureBeat
is adamant about maintaining editorial objectivity. Sprint had no
involvement in the content of this post.
--
Cheers,
Stephen
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