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The environmental benefits of telecommuting.
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This study examines how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. through the widespread delivery of broadband services and the expansion of telecommuting. Telecommuting can reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next 10 years by approximately 588.2 tons of which 247.7 million tons is due to less driving, 28.1 million tons is due to reduced...
Citations
... Examining the shift in production and lifestyle induced by the Internet, scholars probe individual activities' environmental impact. For instance, Fuhr and Pociask [23] discovered that telecommuting facilitated a reduction of approximately 588.2 tonnes (t = 10 6 g = Mg) of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States over a decade. ...
The contemporary landscape sees the digital economy (DE) as a pivotal driver of economic evolution. Hence, scrutinising its potential to harmonise ‘efficiency promotion’ and ‘emission reduction’ and combat the challenges of climate change in this digital epoch is imperative. This study empirically investigates the influence of DE growth by evaluating its impact on carbon emission scale and energy efficiency. The study employs econometric modelling to delve into the internal mechanisms and diverse characteristics of DE evolution that influence ‘efficiency promotion’ and ‘emission reduction’. Findings underscore a significant capacity within the DE to ameliorate energy efficiency and curtail overall carbon emissions, revealing its dual prowess in fostering ‘efficiency promotion’ and ‘emission reduction’. Robustness tests affirm these outcomes, fortifying the conclusion. Additionally, the effects of DE development on ‘efficiency promotion’ and ‘emission reduction’ are validated in these tests. The study reveals that the ‘efficiency promotion’ and ‘emission reduction’ facets of DE progression exhibit distinctive regional disparities, notably manifesting more pronounced impacts in the eastern regions.
... Telecommuting reduces emissions and pollutants related to automobile production because fewer cars are required. Another advantage is that less infrastructure will be required, which will save money on building and road maintenance while also minimizing the risk of hazardous overflow into surrounding streams (Fuhr and Pociask, 2011). ...
As the climate change enforces decision-makers (DMs) to change established policies and strategies, investors are motivated to finance the development of green projects. Because of their environmental effects, land-use transport projects are of special importance in this process. Different types of environment-friendly land-use transportation projects are financed by the private sector or regulatory authorities and institutions. However, the choice of the correct project is a complex issue. In the decision-making process, social concerns are crucial as well as financial, technical and environmental ones. In order to solve the multi-criteria decision-making problem, we propose a novel group decision support model using the Logarithm Methodology of Additive Weights (LMAW) and Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking according to the Compromise Solution (MARCOS) based on the fuzzy Z extension (ZE)-numbers. The proposed group decision support model has a unique capability for decision. The opinions of two groups of the DMs and experts are used to consider the decision reliability in two different stages to reach an optimal decision. To illustrate the use of model, we create a scenario that considers four small-scale green finance planning alternatives that are evaluated using twelve criteria that reflect the choice problem's economic, environmental, technical, and political aspects. According to the findings, the optimum plan should be both inclusive and equitable, as well as economically efficient. Selection of the best green finance planning involves consideration of socioeconomic variables.
... On the other hand, from an application perspective, the application of the Internet in manufacturing, construction, transportation and other industries has improved the efficiency of fiscal operation, resulting in an unexpected decline in energy utilization intensity (Romm, 2002). Moreover, the Internet and telecommunications services can replace outdated transportation and reduce the use of office space, which can save greenhouse gas emissions (Fuhr & Pociask, 2011). ...
As a new economic form, digital economy will have a profound impact on economic activities, including energy consumption and FDI. This paper is intended to explore the differences in the impact of digital economy on urban energy efficiency in China, and whether there is a mediation effect of FDI in this impact process. Therefore, based on the data of 279 prefecture level and above cities in China from 2006 to 2019, the evaluation index system of urban digital economy is constructed, and the entropy method is used to measure its comprehensive development level. Use fixed-effects panel models and intermediary effects models to test the impact of digital economy development on urban energy efficiency. The results show that the digital economy can significantly improve urban energy efficiency. In terms of differential analysis, the role of digital economy development in urban energy efficiency has obvious heterogeneity characteristics in urban scale, geographical region, level of urban economic development, and economic region. In terms of mechanism test, FDI plays an effective mediating role in the process of digital economy affecting urban energy efficiency.
... Zhang et al. (2021) find that internet promotes the energy efficiency of China's industrial system. Many scholars have shown that energy efficiency is improved with the development of the internet through empirical research on different countries and departments (Bernstein & Madlener, 2010;Fuhr & Pociask, 2011;Hao et al., 2022;Walker, 1985). However, some studies find no significant impact of internet on energy efficiency (Saidi et al., 2017;Salahuddin et al., 2015). ...
China plans to arrive at its peak in the emissions of carbon dioxide and reach carbon neutrality by 2030 and 2060, respectively. What role does internet technology, as a key twenty-first-century technology, play in China's achievement of its two carbon goals? Based on datasets about Chinese prefecture-level cities collected mainly from statistical reports released by the China Internet Network Information Center (CINIC), China City Statistical Yearbook, and China Energy Statistical Yearbook in 2006–2019, this paper empirically examines how the development of the internet influencing energy efficiency. This paper uses the policy of “network power nation” strategy and “internet plus” (NPNIP) as a policy impact to construct a continuous difference-in-difference (DID) model for an empirical investigation, and use a mediating effect analysis to test the transmission mechanism involved in industrial structure upgrading, technological innovation, and economic agglomeration. Empirical findings show that energy efficiency is improved by the development of internet. But this result has significant regional heterogeneity. Internet development can significantly reduce energy intensity in the eastern region and mature resource-based cities, but not the central and western regions and other resource-based cities. The mediating effect results show that the internet improves energy efficiency in three ways: upgrading industrial structure, stimulating technological innovation, and economic agglomeration. The empirical findings in this paper lead to many policy recommendation, including strengthening the formation of new infrastructure, deepening the organic integration of the internet across industries, and exploring the legal regulations on internet technology in specific application areas.
... The long-term impacts create multiple purchase choices and related social repercussions involving home and vehicle acquisition (Kim et al., 2015). Other studies also illustrate the potential savings on transportation infrastructure, parking expenses, office space, office operation, and associated energy consumption (Fuhr and Pociask, 2011;Nilles, 1990). However, teleworking may require more office space and office amenities at home, such as a dependable broadband network, personal computers, and printers (Yen, 2000) or increase household energy consumption for heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and lighting (Ku et al., 2022). ...
Teleworking can efficiently decrease the energy consumption and carbon emissions related to physical commuting. Previous studies on assessing the carbon reduction benefits of teleworking were customarily performed according to hypotheses or qualitative methods, and disregarded different potentials of different industries for teleworking implementation. In this study, a quantitative approach was proposed to assess the carbon reduction benefits of teleworking in different industries, which was illustrated via the case study of Beijing, China. The teleworking penetrations of different industries were first estimated. Then, the carbon reduction of teleworking was assessed through the decreased commuting distance using the large-scale travel survey data. Finally, the study samples were extended to a citywide scale and the uncertainty of carbon reduction benefits was evaluated with Monte Carlo simulation. The results showed that (1) teleworking can lead to an average of 1.32 (95 % confidence interval (CI): 0.70-2.05) million tons of carbon reduction, accounting for 7.05 % (95 % CI: 3.74 %-10.95 %) of the total carbon emissions by road transport in Beijing; and (2) information and communication, and professional, scientific and technical service industries had higher carbon reduction potential. Additionally, the rebound effect slightly weakened the carbon reduction benefit of teleworking, which was necessary to be considered and mitigated through relevant policies. The proposed method can be also applied to other regions worldwide, helping to exploit future work patterns and realize global carbon neutrality targets.
... Improved air quality and reduced fuel consumption and traffic congestion are the major benefits of telecommuting (Bentley et al., 2016). Fuhr and Pociask (2011) reported that telecommuting could reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in the USA to an extent of 588.2 tones by 2021 due to reduced patterns of energy consumption, construction and travel. Effect of WFH concept on urban traffic and air quality was studied in Switzerland. ...
Natural resources are under constant exploitation due to industrialization and urbanization. Ecological disturbance caused by over exploitation of resources is one of the possible reasons for the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the highly infectious nature of this disease, countries across the world have taken self-imposed isolation measures such as lockdown, quarantine, curfew, etc., to limit human-to-human spread. Though this pandemic has shaken the world and left millions suffering, it has also caused surprising positive effects to environment. Due to reduced human pressure on ecosystems during the lockdown, betterment of air, water quality and biodiversity along with reduced consumption of natural resources have been reported. It is necessary to maintain this improvement in order to avoid the environmental benefits slipping away once the world limbs back to normalcy. The benefits acquired in terms of resource conservation prompt us to avoid unnecessary human interference and adopt sustainable life styles. Wide usage of information and communication technologies (viz. work from home, teleconferencing, e-learning and e-commerce) during the pandemic revealed their potential in meeting the needs of human livelihood and played a significant role in improvement in air quality and reduced resource consumption. Implementing them should be a policy measure during an environmental crisis. Active government involvement is necessary for coordinating institutional and policy aspects of resource conservation. Smooth transitioning to more sustainable post-COVID world thus requires coordinated action at individual, local, national and international levels. Restoring environmental resources is essential to prevent future pandemics.
... The benefits of telecommuting are well documented in the literature. For example, added flexibility in replacing commute time (Shafizadeh, Niemeir, Mokhatarian, & Salomon, 1998), enhanced quality of life (Van Sell & Jacobs, 1994), energy savings (Fuhr & Pociask, 2011), higher job satisfaction (Golden & Veiga, 2005), reasonable accommodation for individuals in need (Sullenger, 2006), etc. More importantly, working from home likely contributed to limiting the spread of the virus during the pandemic while allowing many businesses and institutions to continue providing their services and products. ...
... Increased congestion in major Indian cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, and Bangalore makes it extremely crucial to assess the impact of telecommuting on travel behaviour in the Indian scenario (Lila and Anjaneyulu, 2013). Along with widely studied environmental benefits of telecommuting like reduction in emission of harmful gases, decrease in energy consumption and reduction of congestion on roads, researchers have assessed various societal benefits like reduction in the number of traffic accidents and related injuries as well as a decrease in demand for new freeways (Nilles, 1988;Bailey and Kurland, 2002;Fuhr and Pociask, 2011;Pyöriä, 2013). ...
... Extant literature concludes that much lesser energy is consumed in-home office in comparison to the commercial space (Fuhr and Pociask, 2011). Lister and Harnish (2011) claimed that energy saved directly by telecommuting is more than the total energy generation of renewable sources. ...
... Home-shoring is another not so recognised benefit of telecommuting. Home-shoring is the practice of getting work done locally at domestic homes instead of outsourcing it to another country (Fuhr and Pociask, 2011). As reported in previous studies as well, telecommuting could be a great talent attraction and retention strategy (Pinsonneault and Boisvert, 2001;Bailey and Kurland, 2002;Gajendran and Harrison, 2007;Martin and MacDonnell, 2012). ...
The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of telecommuting
on congestion, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions in India and
empirically test it. After a comprehensive review of available literature, data
was collected from 56 employees working as telecommuters through
semi-structured, face-to-face and in-depth exploratory interviews. The study
found that the adoption of telecommuting will lead to a reduction in congestion,
energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions in India; and it will also
result in other societal benefits. The findings of this study suggest that
telecommuting could be implemented as a tool to curb traffic congestion and its
adverse effects on the environment and it can also be used as a transport
demand management strategy in India. Telecommuting could also be used as a
talent attraction and retention tool. It will also lead to a reduction in road
accidents and boost traffic safety as well as women’s safety in India. The study
contributes empirically to the existing scarce literature focusing on
environmental as well as societal benefits of adopting telecommuting in India.
Keywords: telecommuting; congestion; energy consumption; societal benefits;
emissions; India.
... By investing in a reliable broadband network, greenhouse gasses can be reduced, not only due to transport emissions but also reduced office construction and operation ( (Fuhr & Pociask, 2011). ...
Vehicle emissions contribute significantly to the greenhouse gas (GHG) content in the earth’s atmosphere, with transportation emissions constituting 24% of the global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (IEA, 2020), contributing to climate change. With the possibility to conduct most business activities by remote, thanks to developments in information communication technology (ICT), this paper considers the environmental impact of telecommuting. As a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) Paris Agreement, South Africa has committed to climate change mitigation through its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC). In 2015 South Africa’s GHG emissions was reported as 460 Mt CO2e (McSweeney & Timperley, 2018). The current INDC target is to see GHG emissions peak and plateau at between 398 and 614 Mt CO2e over the period 2025 to 2030, following a trajectory of a 42% decrease in GHG emissions. Currently, South Africa is set to fall short of this target (WWF, 2018). Cities in South Africa are significant consumers of energy and conversely provide a key opportunity to reduce GHG emissions, especially in the transport sector (Wolpe & Reddy, 2015). The potential effect of vehicle emission reduction on achieving the INDC target is considered through a hypothetical case study of a large organisation with 2 600 employees commuting to work in the South African commuter context, specifically in the City of Tshwane, a major metropolitan area in Gauteng Province.
... By investing in a reliable broadband network, greenhouse gasses can be reduced, not only due to transport emissions but also reduced office construction and operation ( (Fuhr & Pociask, 2011). ...
The high occupancy that typically occurs in South African clinics, and the accompanying risk of airborne infection, make ventilation and thermal comfort particularly important considerations in the design. Passive (natural) ventilation offers a low-cost, energy efficient alternative to mechanical ventilation to dilute air, decreasing the concentration of contaminated particles (Nice et al., 2015). However, the performance of natural ventilation is variable and its success is reliant on constant monitoring. Passive design takes advantage of local environmental and climatic conditions to provide lighting, thermal comfort and ventilation, with the principal aim of minimizing the energy consumption and subsequent carbon footprint of a building (New Zealand Ministry of Education, 2017).The following case study considers the efficacy of a hybrid (passive and mechanical) design strategy to achieve suitable indoor conditions for a healthcare facility. The Hillside Clinic, Beaufort West, was completed in 2017 by the Western Cape Government (WCG) Department of Transport and Public Works, for the WCG Department of Health (the end user). The design brief set out to achieve a suitable indoor environment for a healthcare facility, while challenging designers to consider green building principles, a zero-emission design, and affordability of construction and operation within the specific context. The appointed consultants responded with a number of passive design strategies, including, amongst others, the installation of rock-bed thermal stores and attention to the building envelope materials. These passive techniques were supplemented with mechanical ventilation systems to form a hybrid design. The authors conducted an independent study of the performance of the facility, a year after completion. Beaufort West is situated in a relatively extreme climate, currently classified as cold arid desert, with high diurnal and seasonal temperature differences. Assuming a 2 °C global warming, it is predicted that this area will become a hot arid climate. Furthermore, the area of South Africa resembling the current Beaufort West climatic conditions could increase by up to 16% (Engelbrecht and Engelbrecht, 2016). The Hillside Clinic thus provides a useful study precedent for the application of hybrid design principles applied in healthcare buildings in these arid climates in South Africa. While stating a preference for natural ventilation, the client’s brief recognised that conditioned, mechanically driven air is necessary to achieve the required ventilation rate in certain areas where 100% ducted fresh air supply is recommended.
