A new white paper from InterDigital on the environmental impact of the video entertainment industry makes for stark reading in terms of carbon output.
The report, written by Futuresource Consulting, looks at why the video entertainment industry must lead on positive climate action, set higher standards when it comes to energy efficiency, and integrate solutions that mitigate energy consumption across the end-to-end video chain.
It reveals:
- The carbon footprint for production is immense: medium-sized films have an average carbon footprint of 769 metric tonnes of CO2e, with large films generating substantially more emissions, creating 1,081 metric tonnes per production.
- An average day of filming generates more than one person’s annual carbon footprint while an average hour filming is equivalent to the carbon footprint of a return flight from London to New York.
- Going cloud native saves energy: production services are highly virtualised and as a result, harness more energy-efficient equipment than conventional on-premises set ups.
- Data centres worldwide are becoming more efficient: Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) currently averages 1.5, but newer installations achieve far better performance.
More than a billion hours of content is consumed on a single streaming platform every single day and as a consequence the video streaming industry’s annual carbon footprint now exceeds that of the airline industry.
“The video industry is now laser-focused on increasing the sustainability of visual entertainment. From filming and content creation, through broadcast distribution and internet streaming, to consumer devices themselves, all elements of the delivery chain are actively improving efficiency,” said Simon Forrest, principal technology analyst, Futuresource Consulting.
“Yet there are continuous challenges: on current trajectories, global TV energy usage alone could increase 5 per cent by 2026 as consumers upgrade to higher resolution screens and transition to 4K HDR video. So, there are clear opportunities for further innovation in video coding and delivery mechanisms to help mitigate this potential rise.”
InterDigital’s Erik Reinhard added: “This paper comes at a moment when industry stakeholders are thinking about how they can get a handle on the industry’s carbon footprint, and in response, develop the solutions which are seriously needed to minimize the environmental impact of content creation, exchange, and delivery.
“It reflects the industry view that more needs to be done within the video entertainment sector to measure and address what it can to achieve more sustainable operations for the video content we all enjoy.”
The white paper is available to download here.
