Streaming might be our favorite pastime, but beneath the surface, it’s a colossal energy-guzzling process that’s taking a toll on our planet.
Today, the average consumer worldwide spends about 19 hours a week streaming video – but this can be much, much higher for some. And with a population of more than 742,200,000, Europeans could have streamed more than 735 billion hours – or 83 million years – of content in 2022 alone!
To put this into perspective, every hour of video streamed emits roughly 55g of CO2e. This would mean that Europeans streaming habits account to roughly 40.4 million metric tons of CO2e in just one year – the equivalent of driving 210 billion km, given the average gas-powered car emits 192g of CO2e per km.
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Adopting real-time streaming experiences such as live events, interactive video, cloud gaming, video communications, and virtual worlds is soaring. Meeting this demand with CPU-based codecs can often be expensive and inefficient, unnecessarily boosting CAPEX, OPEX, and carbon emissions generated by CPU-based encoding. In a breakthrough for the video processing sector, Tony speaks to us about how organizations can tap into GPU-based solutions that substantially trim down operating costs, capital expenditure, and energy usage.
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Judging by the number of trade publication articles and speaking sessions that focus on the topic, you’d think that the entire media and entertainment industry is focussed on cutting carbon costs. But is that really the case? True, broadcasters have set ambitious targets to reach net zero, the streaming giants are following suit, and they’re putting pressure on production companies to reduce their environmental impact and include sustainability messaging in the content they produce. Carbon emissions have even become a critical consideration in planning new studio builds. But not every part of the production chain is putting the environment first.
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In an era of unprecedented technological advancement, the media and broadcast industry plays a significant role in shaping how we perceive the world. However, this sector, like many others, faces a pressing challenge: the threat to our planet’s delicate ecological balance. As concerns about environmental sustainability escalate, our industry needs to take bold steps to minimize its own impact on the environment and pave the way for a greener future.
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As we approach the end of the summer, marked as the warmest ever recorded, it’s clear that focusing on the environment and sustainability is crucial for all organizations and businesses. The TV and media industry has a dual responsibility. On one hand, it’s crucial to provide the public with accurate information about the situation, and on the other hand, it’s equally important to address the sustainability impact of producing and distributing TV and video content.
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Technology is set to play a crucial role in the fight against climate change by helping us to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance energy efficiency, and promote sustainable practices. Is there potential for AI to also play a part in this? Google DeepMind certainly thinks so and is using the latest AI developments to help fight climate change and build a more sustainable, low-carbon world. But although AI has received a lot of attention since the launch of the large language model, ChatGPT, last year, AI and machine learning (ML) are not new concepts. Content creators, technology vendors, and service providers in the video industry have been using ML for some time. The difference now is that generative AI models have become more advanced, and are now being used by a wider audience. If organizations like Google DeepMind aim to use generative AI to fight climate change, can the video industry also use generative AI to optimize systems, create more sustainable consumption habits, and reduce the industry’s carbon impact?
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Twenty-three years ago, in June 2000, the European Commission published proposals for their WEEE and RoHS Directives and three years later they were agreed and entered into force, having a major impact on all industries. The RoHS Directive originally restricted six substances and effectively banned the use of lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium and two types of flame retardants in most new electrical and electronic equipment sold after 1 July 2006. This had a major impact on our industry mainly due to the need to use lead-free solder in the manufacture of electronic equipment. The Directive has been amended several times since and, as of 2015, now there are ten substances that RoHS restricts along with the equivalent UK post-Brexit law that replaces it. Very similar laws and regulations now also exist for other countries and their markets, such as Japan, South Korea, China, and India.
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The rise in importance of sustainability in the Broadcast industry has been one of the most significant meta trends in recent years. Driven onwards by both public and investor sentiment, and given further impetus by the increasingly observable effects of climate change, sustainability has become central to many industry roadmaps.
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Sustainability has become a top priority for companies across all industries as the world becomes more aware of the disastrous effects of climate change. Video service providers are no exception; however, they need to identify ways to improve energy efficiency, reduce waste, ensure regulatory compliance, and unlock new business opportunities. In recent years, there has been a growing concern about the environmental impact of video services. Companies are now seeking sustainable ways to deliver their services while reducing their carbon footprint, and this is where sustainability analytics comes in. By collecting and analysing data, video services providers can gain insights into their environmental impact and develop strategies to mitigate it.
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To achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, the video industry needs to consider every aspect of its complex ecosystem, and that includes reducing the energy consumed by end user devices when streaming content. There’s been a lot of focus over the years on developing electronic devices to be as energy efficient as possible, as well as improving the energy efficiency of the overall media chain (servers, encoders, cloud storage, etc). What’s less well known is what impact changes made at application level can have on energy consumption when content is streamed. And crucially, what impact do changes made at application level for the purpose of reducing energy consumption, have on the User Experience (UX)? This is a critical factor to establish because UX is a central pillar of any successful video service. Because after all, if video providers have to make a choice between UX and sustainability, UX will win every time. But does UX have to be compromised in the quest for a more sustainable application? Or is it possible to reduce energy consumption on OTT devices by optimizing the application and using energy-efficient UI/UX strategies, all without sacrificing user experience?
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