11/15/10 - The information technology (IT), telecommunications, media and entertainment sectors produce roughly three percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, as compared to four to five percent for the airline industry when all supporting infrastructure is included, according to a study by the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, reports Triple Pundit.

However, a study released in May by the American Chemical Society’s Environmental Science & Technology Review indicates that CO2 emissions from the airline industry accounts for approximately two to three percent of global GHG emissions.

The KTH study, “Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Operational Electricity Use in the ICT and Entertainment & Media Sector,” finds that the IT and telecom sector in 2007 accounted for 1.3 percent of the world’s total greenhouse emissions, equivalent to 620 megatons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), while the media and entertainment sector accounted for 1.7 percent of world greenhouse emissions, or 820 megatons of CO2e.

These figures also include the actual IT infrastructure — networks and data centers — that are necessary to enable the global services, says KTH.