Ecommerce Could Reduce Council Carbon Footprint

29 January 2008 

Public Sector Bodies can expect to come under further pressure to reduce their carbon footprints under new environmental legislation.  ICT managers and project managers will have to find ways to reduce ICT energy use and heat emissions, reduce waste and cut transport needs.  However, UK government research conducted by Best Foot Forward has shown that residents who use the internet to contact local councils could help save the equivalent of millions of air miles in carbon emissions.  The results revealed that a city council could save 80,000kg of CO2 each year by improving online access to just five of its key services.  Rolled out nationally this is the equivalent of over 14,000 tonnes of CO2 or 5,362 return air flights from Heathrow to Malaga each year. 

The report was based on data supplied by Sunderland City Council and showed that an online service is more cost efficient in terms of staff time than contact by post, by telephone or face-to-face, but there are also CO2 emission savings because of reductions in travel, paper use and other resources.