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AI generated/Fraunhofer FOKUS

Guidelines on evaluating the energy consumption of video streaming

News from Oct. 28, 2024

Video streaming has become an integral part of our daily media consumption and accounts for the majority (60 to 70 percent) of global internet traffic. The white paper provides guidelines to help decision makers, developers and consumers identify the complex and diverse relationships between streaming components and environmental impact, and promote sustainable solutions. 

With the growing popularity of streaming services and the extensive use of video content on social media platforms, it is more important than ever to be able to understand and evaluate the impact of this technology on the environment. The white paper examines the streaming value chain and its environmental footprint, from the content production stage to customers’ end devices. To this end, it considers the energy consumption involved in video streaming and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions along the value chain.

The aim of the Green Streaming project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) is to verify and analyze the existing studies, which are often based on simulations, by performing measurements along the streaming value chain. This information is then used as a basis to identify potential for savings and optimization, and technical solutions are developed and tested with the aim of reducing the amount of energy required. The results of this analysis provide the foundation for this white paper. 


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