Digitalisation and natural resources

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Digitalisation and natural resources



Digitalisation is in creasingly affecting all aspects of our lives. However, its impact on the natural resource demand has not been sufficiently examined, yet. The UBA research project ‘Digitalisation and natural resources’ applies simulation models to analyse the resource intensity of the digital transformation in Germany with the aim of identifying ways for an environmentally sound development.
24.09.2024 275

More and more aspects of our private and professional everyday life are becoming digital. This change offers enormous potential for the economy, society, and the environment – new products and services are created through digitalisation, industrial processes become more efficient, and, ultimately, resources can be conserved. However, hardly any investigations have been carried out so far on how the advancing digitalisation itself affects the demand for energy and natural resources, for example copper, plastics, special metals or rare earths, as well as its impact on greenhouse gas emissions.

These issues raise several research questions: To what extent does digitalisation cause increased resource requirements, for example in the production of new, short-lived end-user devices, of the rather long-lasting network infrastructures, or in the energy supply required for their operation? What effects does digitalisation have on the consumer behaviour? How can mostly national legislators ensure that globally distributed digital services are operated in an environmentally friendly manner? How can future development paths for digitalisation and digital applications be designed in a resource-efficient and resource-saving way? And how can the overall resource intensity be kept as low as possible?
Analysis of the resource intensity of the digital transformation in Germany

With the research project ‘Digitalisation and natural resources’ (short: DigitalRessourcen), the German Environment Agency is investigating these and other issues and carrying out an analysis of the resource intensity of the digital transformation in Germany.

The project began with a review of the facts and correlations known to date in the area of resource requirements triggered by the digital transformation. Subsequently, precise system and observation limits of digitalisation and its components were developed in order to be able to examine them in more detail in further steps.

A model of the German economy (macroeconometric input-output model) was used to analyse the current resource consumption of the digital transformation both for individual economic sectors and for the economy as a whole. The model was then used to simulate possible future developments in digitalisation up to the year 2050 (results of the project summarised in a brochure).

The resource intensity (including greenhouse gas intensity) of the digital transformation along global supply chains was estimated and modelled (macro level) for both the current situation and the ‘possible futures’. In addition to this more holistic investigation, the life cycle assessment of specific products was analysed as part of ten case studies (micro level). These could be, for example, digital applications for which products such as smartphones, internet routers or servers for online trading platforms are used (results of the project summarised in a factsheet).

The results from the simulations and case studies are used in the project to identify recommendations for action and policy for a resource-efficient development of digitalisation. In this way, the DigitalResources project aims to provide decision-makers in politics and research with information on how a climate-neutral and resource-efficient design of digitalisation can be made possible (detailed results of the project in the German final report).

The DigitalRessourcen research project is being carried out as part of the departmental research plan (ReFoPlan) of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) on behalf of the German Environment Agency. It started in 2020 and initially lasted until the end of 2023. A follow-up project will be carried out from 2024 to 2027. The focus of the follow-up project is the calculation of case studies on AI applications (‘artificial intelligence’), the analysis of the significance of digitalisation in areas of demand and sectors and the involvement of stakeholders in the identification of fields of action and action measures.




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