The grey side of ICT

The information and communication technologies (ICTs) have a profound impact on economy and environment. The performance improvements in ICT leads to increased consumption of ICT products and services, which has numerous environmental implications on different levels. The author points to the analogy between the rebound effects in the energy sector and the growth effects in ICT. A multilevel taxonomy of rebound effects is taken from the energy economics literature in order to structure the discussion on the environmental implications of increasing use of ICT products and applications. The author distinguishes two levels of environmental impacts from ICT: first, related to the life cycle of ICT hardware and second, related to the way the ICT applications are being used. By presenting examples from different literature, the paper illustrates the complexity of the environmental impacts and stresses the decisive role of human behaviour in determining their significance. The issues presented in the paper are highly relevant to any decision-makers, who are placing large expectations on ICT and who needs to be aware about its potential environmental implications in the complex socioeconomic system of today. Huge investments are being made into the sector with large expectations for economic growth and environmental improvements, but neglecting the issue of rebound effect causes a risk of misallocation of funds. Having more information on effects and causes will allow decision-makers to optimise future development with a balance between economic growth and environmental quality.