Environmental Leader

Using electronics to telecommute saves the equivalent of 9 to 14 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year – the same amount of energy used by roughly 1 million U.S. households every year, according to a study commissioned by the Consumer Electronics Association.

The findings also indicate the estimated 3.9 million telecommuters in the U.S. reduced gasoline consumption by about 840 million gallons, while curbing carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 14 million tons. This level of CO2 reduction is equal to removing 2 million vehicles from the road every year.

The study, The Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Impact of Telecommuting and e-Commerce (PDF), conducted by TIAX , found that just one day of telecommuting saves the equivalent of up to 12 hours of an average household’s electricity use. Telecommuting also saves 1.4 gallons of gasoline and reduces CO2 emissions by 17 to 23 kilograms per day.