U. S. carriers missing multi-billion dollar “green” boat

“ The carrot is carbon trades,” Rosenberg said. If, for instance, a service provider offered a smart metering service that better controlled heating/cooling and energy consumption within the home, homeowners that used the service could get a carbon credit based on the square footage of their homes, he said. “They can take that carbon credit and put it onto a trading floor and monetize that,” Rosenberg said. “Europe did about 64 billion dollars in carbon trades last year.”

Rosenberg believes the 2008 election also plays a role in the urgency with which carriers need to act. “Regardless of whether we have a Democrat or Republican, we are probably going to sign the Kyoto Protocol or come up with set of legislative initiatives that create a set of targets very comparable to Kyoto. When that happens, there is going to be both a carrot and a stick on the table. The stick is you will be penalized for carbon emissions.”

If service providers don’t move within the next 18 months, Rosenberg said, “the other guys will get there first. Energy companies understand this. They know that if there is a mandate after the next election, they have to be ready to move.”

The Insights Research report details a set of services that telecom service providers could offer that fall into five categories: Transportation demand management (TDM) that reduces use of fossil-fuel based transportation; demand-side management that curtails electrical consumption, machine-to-machine communications that uses sensors and other technology to improve the operational efficiency of a wide range of devices; recycling of electronics, computers and communications devices; and environmental audit and systems compliance for regulatory reporting.

Exelon Corp, the Midwest energy giant and owner of power companies such as Commonwealth Edison, announced its environmental roapmap earlier this month, saying it would offset or displace 15 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually by 2020.

“That was the first shot,” Rosenberg said. “AT&T better get it, Qwest better get it and Verizon better get it.”