Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and ... - ITU

In Africa, seven per cent of the mined aluminium is used in the production of electronic equipment 96 .
Assuming that Ghana’s aluminium production is powered by a non-fossil fuel source, hydroelectricity, GHG
emissions are small in comparison with other countries, such as Australia where aluminium smelting is
fuelled by coal, consuming about 15 per cent of all electricity produced and emitting 6-7 per cent of total
CO2e emissions.
The emissions released in the generation of hydropower are less, but hydropower is far from emission free
and has not come without a massive environmental cost. Dam construction and maintenance, continuous
lake dredging, building and strengthening of the power grid to cope with the power being produced, and
manufacture and maintenance of the turbines, are just a few examples of damage to the environment.
2.2 Manufacturing phase
Manufacturing of ICTs causes GHG emissions because energy is used in factories to process and assemble
materials and to transport goods and supplies to and from assembly plants.
Ghana is not currently a significant producer of ICT-based products but there is a growing business in the
assembly of handsets. Overall, the manufacturing industry is growing and may make a significant
contribution to GHG emissions in the future.
2.3 Use (consumption) phase
Electricity is the primary source of power for the use phase of ICTs. Approximately 50 per cent of Ghana’s
electricity comes from renewable sources with nearly all of this coming from hydroelectric generation. The
rest is made up of thermal (oil, diesel and natural gas) powered generation 97 .
As in other countries, electricity is used in Ghana to operate wireline, mobile and broadcasting networks,
and the end equipment used to provide the services. The ICT sector is powered by a mixture of on-grid and
off-grid supplies. Significant energy users include:
• The legacy fixed network (e.g. now part of Vodafone Ghana)
• Private communication systems including Ghana government systems
• The mobile TSPs
• Consumer networks (customer premises equipment such as TVs, monitors and PCs)
• Service providers (broadcasters and Internet service providers, especially those using data centres in
Ghana)
To provide an accurate estimate of the energy requirement for Ghana’s ICT sector requires a detailed
analysis of the significant energy users listed above. A methodology to accomplish this is provided in the
Annex. The first advised step is to monitor the electricity used by large corporations as published in their
report and accounts.
Specific opportunities for energy reduction in the ICT sector are discussed in Chapter 4.
2.4 End of life/recycling phase
Although there are some environmental impacts and GHG emissions associated with recycling, the benefits
far outweigh other options. More energy is needed to recycle an obsolete product than leaving it in-situ or
sending it to landfill. However, assuming that there is a constant demand for new products, the energy
needed to recycle a product is far less than that needed to extract new material from raw material.
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