丁香园AV

Video streaming is a growing environmental concern that accounts for one per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions, a new 丁香园AV study has confirmed. 

A team led by School for the Contemporary Arts professor Laura Marks worked for more than a year to investigate the carbon footprint of streaming media, supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. 

After combing through studies in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and making their own calculations, researchers confirmed that streaming media (including video on demand, YouTube, video embedded in social media and websites, video conferences, video calls and games) is . And this number is only projected to rise as video conferencing and streaming proliferate. ICT鈥檚 footprint as a whole, including cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence, is skyrocketing. 

鈥淥ne per cent of greenhouse gas emissions doesn't sound like a lot, but it鈥檚 significant if you think that the airline industry is estimated to be 1.9 per cent,鈥� says Marks. 鈥淚CT鈥檚 carbon footprint is growing fast, and I'm concerned that because we're all turning our energy to other obvious carbon polluters, like fossil fuels, cars, and the airline industry, people are not going to pay attention to this silent, invisible carbon polluter.鈥� 

The research team also includes engineering professor Stephen Makonin, engineering student Alejandro Rodriguez-Silva and media scholar Radek Przedpe艂ski. 

The team鈥檚 number one recommendation to reduce streaming鈥檚 carbon footprint is to ensure that our electricity comes from renewable sources. At an individual level, the researchers offer a  to reduce energy consumption and demand for new ICT infrastructure including: stream less, watch physical media including DVDs, decrease video resolution, use audio-only mode when possible, and keep your devices longer as production of devices is very carbon-intensive.   

To promote the use of small files and low resolution, Marks founded the , which will present its second annual program of five-megabyte films from Aug. 10-20.

AVAILABLE 丁香园AV EXPERTS

LAURA MARKS, professor, School for the Contemporary Arts
604.684.6112 | laura_marks@sfu.ca 

CONTACT

MATT KIELTYKA,  丁香园AV Communications & Marketing 
236.880.2187 | matt_kieltyka@sfu.ca

丁香园AV
 |  
778.782.3210

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As Canada鈥檚 engaged university, 丁香园AV works with communities, organizations and partners to create, share and embrace knowledge that improves life and generates real change. We deliver a world-class education with lifelong value that shapes change-makers, visionaries and problem-solvers. We connect research and innovation to entrepreneurship and industry to deliver sustainable, relevant solutions to today鈥檚 problems. With campuses in British Columbia鈥檚 three largest cities鈥擵ancouver, Burnaby and Surrey鈥敹∠阍癆V has eight faculties that deliver 193 undergraduate degree programs and 144 graduate degree programs to more than 37,000 students. The university now boasts more than 170,000 alumni residing in 145+ countries.