Typically, teleworkers, including those who participated in the investigation OBERGO , believe that telecommuting reduces energy consumption and CO2 production. This is not what I think a number of scientists.
Thus, a report published in September 2010, Professor Phil Blythe, president of the group " Intelligent Transport Systems" University of Newcastle, highlights, in particular by using the mathematical model called Telework, developed by the University of Berkeley, that the energy gains are minimal (0.01 to 1.4% on U.S. and Japanese examples) because:
- teleworkers looking to live further away from the centers cities and individual houses (this is the case in 25% of survey responses OBERGO)
- The non-work trips are more likely (supermarket, children at school, weekend trips, visits to friends, ...)
- heating or cooling a home uses more energy than an office in an apartment building
- peripherals (printers, scanners, fax, ...) used at home eat more than those who shared the office
Conclusion: "First, you give up your car to go to work. Only then, you wonder what is the best: take the bus or work from home. "
Source: French presentation on http://www.rue89.com/american-ecolo/2010/10/08/teletravail-et-shopping-en-ligne-mauvais-pour-lenvironnement-169739
Report "Rebound: Unintended consequences of innovation and technology Transport Police" - The Institution of Engineering and Technology - September edition 2010. Available at: http://www.theiet.org/factfiles/transport/unintended-page.cfm and http://www.ergostressie.com/
