Session 3. Oral Presentation for: Lower-Carbon IT: information technology strategies for emissions reduction in energy enterprises

Presented on 19 May 2026: Session 3 Today, data centres account for approximately 0.5% of combustion emissions and are on track to be responsible for approximately 3% of electricity generation and approximately 1% of total combustion emissions (greenhouse gas) by 2030. For energy enterprises, this footprint is an area of increasing interest within their digital operations. This paper proposes a Lower-Carbon information technology (IT) Framework that would embed emissions aware decisions into architecture, workload placement, and data lifecycle management. Woodside uses the term, Lower-Carbon, to describe the characteristic of having lower levels of associated potential greenhouse gas emissions when compared to historical and/or current conventions or analogues, for example relating to an otherwise similar resource, process, production facility, product or service, or activity. Informed by a demonstrative case study to build out a 24-month guidance, this paper positions how IT divisions can plan to reduce their digital-related carbon footprint while still having potential to unlock cost savings and performance optimisation. To access the Oral Presentation click ‘Supplementary data’ below. To read the full paper click here