Amazon, Microsoft, and Samsung Back a New Way to Gauge Devices’ Environmental Impact

Amazon, Microsoft, Samsung, and Sky have partnered with consultancy firm The Carbon Trust to create a shared way of gauging the greenhouse gas emissions connected to using their devices.

The companies want to specifically track the “use-phase electricity consumption” of internet-connected products, Samsung explains. The Korean firm claims that worldwide, internet-connected devices consume an estimated 500 terawatt-hours (TWh) of power every year, matching or surpassing the consumption of entire countries. That power has to come from somewhere, sometimes including dirtier sources like coal.

The effort is part of the Decarbonizing the Use-Phase of Connected Devices (DUCD) initiative. Details on upcoming plans are scarce, but the idea is that device data from consumers will be used to generate more accurate reporting. Otherwise companies tend to use forecasts based on their own testing. This newly-collected data will be issued in annual reports, nominally with the idea of encouraging companies to lower emissions while people are still using a given product.

The approach could raise privacy concerns, but Amazon, Microsoft, and Samsung already have power consumption tracking built into some of their software. Amazon, for example, offers the Alexa energy dashboard to gauge how much power smart home accessories are using. Microsoft’s Windows 11 includes a variety of power monitoring and control settings, paired with recommendations for reducing a PC’s carbon footprint. Samsung’s efforts include the likes of SmartThings Energy and AI Energy Mode.

Private efforts at reducing greenhouse gases are likely to become increasingly important over the next four years. US President-Elect Donald Trump has called climate change a hoax, so it’s likely that the US government will pull out of environmental commitments made under the Biden administration, and deregulate the oil and gas industry where it’s deemed useful to increase output.