Telekom Austria Group Reduces CO2 Emissions by 40% within One Year
- Telekom Austria Group joined the WWF CLIMATE GROUP in July 2009;
- Telekom Austria Group reduced its CO2 emissions by 40% or 33,000 tons within one year, significantly outperforming the 2012 target, which envisaged a reduction of 15 percent or 15,000 tons;
Vienna, June 25, 2010: The Telekom Austria Group (VSE: TKA, OTC US: TKAGY) today announced that it succeeded in reducing its CO2 emissions by 40% within one year compared to 2008, significantly outperforming the 2012 target of 15%. The volume of 80,591 tons was cut to 47,781 tons. This massive reduction was the result of a comprehensive energy saving program, which included the replacement of 350 end-of-life servers with 22 brand new “virtual” servers and the deployment of exterior air cooling, modular cooling and intelligent steering systems at the company’s computing centers, which contributed to considerably enhancing energy efficiency. In 2009, Telekom Austria Group’s DCE (Data Center Efficiency) reached 56% compared to 42% in 2008 due to the company’s effective energy management. Thus, Telekom Austria Group can rely on one of Austria’s most efficient computing centers. 
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Additional energy-saving measures encompass the gradual switch to climate-neutral power and to the environmentally friendly small hydropower. The portion of green electricity was doubled in 2009 and now accounts for 66% of the company’s total power supply. The percentage of small hydropower was expanded to 8%. Moreover, the increased use of district heating, the clearance and replacement of central heating systems contributed to cutting CO2 emissions by another 30 percent or 4,000 tons.
Telekom Austria Group’s energy policy also defines strict guidelines with regard to business travel: Train miles were decreased by 46% and air miles by 15% in 2009. Besides, telepresence solutions contributed to reducing one-day business trips by one-fourth, demonstrating how telecommunications technologies can be instrumental in optimizing business travel.
A further measure was the company’s in-house information campaign "Stop-Standby-Initiative" about turning off computers and peripheral devices, which led to a further reduction of CO2 emissions from IT equipment by roughly one-third and the installation of a photovoltaic system on the roof of the technology center campus 22. Moreover, Telekom Austria Group’s energy management resulted in a total energy saving of 10% at the company’s Headquarters in Vienna within only one year.
Hannes Ametsreiter, CEO Telekom Austria Group, said: “The reduction of 33,000 tons of CO2 emission within one year is a great accomplishment for Telekom Austria Group’s energy and environmental management. We are determined to continue along this path.”
Hildegard Aichberger, Managing Director of WWF Austria, added: “Owing to Telekom Austria Group’s ambitious environmental program, the company has outperformed the targets envisaged by the WWF CLIMATE GROUP demonstrating that huge progress can be made in the field of climate protection within a very short time.”
Telekom Austria Group will continue to cooperate with the WWF CLIMATE GROUP in the field of environmental management going forward as energy efficiency plays a pivotal role for Austria’s technology leader. Further virtualization projects as well as the rollout of energy-efficient network infrastructure both in the Fixed Net and Mobile Communication segments are planned over the next few years. Further highlights will be the cooperation in the area of vehicle fleet and video conferencing.
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Contact:
Elisabeth Mattes
Telekom Austria Group’s Spokeswoman
Tel: +43 664 331 2730
E-Mail: elisabeth.mattes@telekom.at
