Less energy – less CO2

Energy supply and consumption is one of the main issues when it comes to climate protection. This is why Deutsche Telekom doesn’t just look at the power consumption of its own products, it also offers innovative solutions that help customers around the world make extra energy savings.

T-Systems offers its customers around the world a range of "Dynamic Services" – solutions that significantly improve their energy balance. This is made possible by the virtualization of software and computer performance. In other words, large power-hungry computer systems are replaced by leaner computers known as thin clients. Storage space and computing power are simply sourced from a main data center – in exactly the quantities that the company needs at that moment. Thin clients use only about one-quarter of the power of conventional PCs. Businesses also make savings on hardware, maintenance and operating costs. Of course this increases power consumption in the provider’s data center. But since T-Systems can distribute the computing power for multiple customers between its servers in such a way that their capacity utilization is optimal, the environmental balance is positive. Experts predict that this model will soon be available for private users as well.

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Smart Metering & Home Management lets customers monitor their electricity usage patterns at any time.

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Smart Metering & Home Management lets customers monitor their electricity usage patterns at any time.

A simulation model developed by T-Systems calculates how much power, CO2 and costs companies can save by using Dynamic Services. Using information about the number of servers, current electricity prices and storage capacity, Green Dynamics predicts the individual savings potential over the next five years. It also calculates how many densely planted football pitches would be necessary to compensate for the CO2 emissions. In 2008, T-Systems in Austria received the Green IT Award from the International Data Corporation (IDC) for this model. In March 2009 the application won the City of Vienna’s environment award.

Keeping track of power consumption
In order to take effective steps to reduce energy consumption at home it is essential to know how much power individual appliances are using. It is also important for energy providers to know the exact power consumption so that only the power that is needed is fed into the grid. Smart Metering & Home Management enables both parties to keep track of power consumption. The program collects and transmits consumption data from electronic water, electricity and gas meters. This allows customers to check their consumption easily at any time, using their laptop or cell phone. Utility companies no longer need to send staff out to read meters.

Sustainable product design
Energy-efficient switched-mode power supply adapters are standard equipment for all fixed telephones in the Sinus series. This saves up to 60 percent of the power usually consumed by cordless telephones. But since it is impossible to do without energy entirely, Deutsche Telekom has made a commitment to offset unavoidable CO2 emissions for the Sinus 101, 201, 301 and 501 models over a service life of five years. The emissions that result from using the telephones will be offset through support for climate protection projects worldwide.