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The Internet: Explaining ICT Service Demand in Light of Cloud Computing Technologies

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Rethinking Climate and Energy Policies

Abstract

Cloud Computing (CloudC) is one of the most prominent recent trends in the digital communications sector and represents a paradigm shift within the ICT industry. The supply of popular applications, such as cloud storage and cloud video streaming, has caused a surge in the demand for CloudC services, which offer the advantages of low economic cost, high data transfer speeds, and improved mobility, security, scalability, and multi-tenancy. In this chapter, we investigate the circumstances under which this new CloudC infrastructure is likely to reduce energy use of our new digital lifestyle, or when it simply catalyses a rebound effect that could hamper ICT-related energy savings. We classify CloudC rebound effects as either direct or indirect rebound effects, and we discuss the differences and overlap between rebound effects, enabling effects, and transformational effects. An understanding of these differences is important for understanding energy use associated with CloudC.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Grid computing software is a collection of computer resources from several locations that aim to attain a common goal.

  2. 2.

    CloudC interface is a software that communicates with software applications and services.

  3. 3.

    Web application frameworks facilitate the development of web applications, such as dynamic websites, by reusing code and templating frameworks from existing applications.

  4. 4.

    GeSI is a source for information on existing and emerging issues in the area of ICT and sustainability. GeSI’s members are mainly ICT companies.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Western Norway Research Institute, Sogndal, Norway

    Hans Jakob Walnum & Anders S.G. Andrae

  2. Huawei Technologies, Stockholm, Sweden

    Anders S.G. Andrae

Authors
  1. Hans Jakob Walnum
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  2. Anders S.G. Andrae
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hans Jakob Walnum .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst. for Ecological Economy Research, Free University of Berlin and Inst. for Ecological Economy Research, Berlin, Germany

    Tilman Santarius

  2. Western Norway Research Institute , Sogndal, Norway

    Hans Jakob Walnum

  3. Western Norway Research Institute , Sogndal, Norway

    Carlo Aall

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Walnum, H.J., Andrae, A.S. (2016). The Internet: Explaining ICT Service Demand in Light of Cloud Computing Technologies. In: Santarius, T., Walnum, H., Aall, C. (eds) Rethinking Climate and Energy Policies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38807-6_13

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