Sixteen more European ICT companies have agreed to reduce the electricity consumption of their broadband equipment and data centres at the 'ICT 2010-Digitally Driven' event in Brussels. Of these, 10 companies have signed the EC code of conduct on broadband equipment bringing the number of ICT companies which have done so to a total of 20, while 6 new companies signed the code of conduct on data centres and joined the 26 participants (with 42 data centres) which are currently registered. The ten companies (both telecom operators and manufacturers) that have already signed the code of conduct on broadband equipment cover about 25 million broadband lines in the EU (27 percent). With 10 new companies signing up, the coverage will raise to 65 million in the EU (72 percent) plus 10 million more in Norway, Switzerland and Turkey. Although a voluntary measure, 36 of Europe's biggest ICT companies already apply the codes of conduct, which are managed by EC's Joint Research Centre (JRC). According to the EC, ICT equipment's electric power consumption and CO2 emissions could double by 2020 in the EU. The codes' aim is to reverse this trend. At present, ICT equipment and services consume over 8 percent of electrical power in the EU and produce about 4 percent of its CO2 emissions. Data centres account roughly for 18 percent of the ICT sector's energy consumption and they are expected to grow faster than any other ICT technology. Across Europe, they consume about 56 TWh of electricity per year. Whilst the codes of conduct address the energy efficiency challenge regarding broadband and data centres, the ICT4EE Forum is looking at the overall energy and carbon footprints of the sector. The Digital Agenda for Europe adopted by the Commission in May wants to ensure that the ICT sector leads the way on reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.
