IBC
As a stand-up comedian Katy Bolan once opened for Jerry
Seinfeld but the focus of her professional career as Sustainability Lead at
Google TV is no laughing matter.
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“We used to think the environment was a problem for the next
generation but you only need look at the weather and climate patterns today to
see it’s effecting us now,” she said.
“The pace at which this issue is becoming more and more
urgent is alarming. I don’t think it’s a problem that only sustainability leads
need to work on. Everybody needs to look at what they are doing and see if
there’s a way to make it more sustainable because that’s the only way we are
going to get through this.”
Bolan – who will be speaking as part of the Changemakers
programme at IBC2023 - has spent nine years at Alphabet and the last two
devising and leading the Sustainability for Google TV program. She is also
working on a similar program for platforms and ecosystems at Google which
covers products like Chrome books and the OS Android Wear.
The main target is to reduce the carbon footprint of TV
power consumption.
“We want to enable end-users to make more sustainable
choices,” she explained. “We’ve worked on reducing power consumption in
stand-by mode when the TV is not being used at all and giving users options in
terms of what the power levels can be. For instance, they may just want an
essential mode where there’s no network activity other than critical updates
which is the lowest power consumption mode (and an EU regulatory requirement).
Additional options enable users to have network features like Cast available to
wake-up the TV in low power consumption mode.”
Google has internal measures for the success of these
efforts and Bolan said they estimate there will be a “good reduction” in
overall power consumption once all the new stand by modes roll out by 2027. “It
does make a difference,” she said.
Studies have shown that one of the worst polluting areas of
the TV industry is streaming video to the home. This falls outside of Bolan’s
remit and largely outside of Google’s purview since technically this is the
responsibility of either the user’s local network or the content provider
themselves. However, it is an area that Google is looking at, particularly in
reducing carbon waste from its data centres.
The tech giant, which said it has been carbon neutral since
2007, has also pledged to hit the far more demanding standard of
net-zero by 2030.
“It’s an ambitious goal for which renewable energy sources
will be key,” Bolan said. “Obviously, we cannot control sources of energy for
consumer households but as the world move towards electrification and renewable
forms of energy then that is the best hope for reducing levels of carbon
emissions from streaming.”
Google is hugely influential on a global scale but it cannot
affect the profound change required to turnaround business policy or consumer
lifestyles alone. Bolan comes to IBC2023 urging everyone to act:
“There are a lot of efforts out there addressing the climate
crisis but it cannot be done in a silo. Sustainability is heavily partnership
oriented and it is so important to keep talking about the issue because the
more awareness there is the more our partners are able to understand the impact
of their products and the more we can get them to partner with us to come up
with solutions that benefit people, the planet and the product.”
She is optimistic for change since consumer power will drive
business to act. “Research shows users increasingly prefer products that are
sustainable and not just greenwashing. Users are smart and savvy. Many
companies in our industry also recognise that the sustainable product is the
superior product and will be the one that users will ultimately benefit from
the most, especially when you connect reduced power consumption to reduced
user’s electricity bills. But we do need to work together. We cannot do it
alone.”
There is plenty of work to be done not least in educating
industry partners. While some partners that Google TV works with on
sustainability are “eager and looking forward and wanting to work with us”
others, said Bolan, are “still trying to find solutions that are both
sustainable and that provide a good economic transition for them.
“We’re finding other partners who did not initially have the
resources to work on sustainability are now starting to make space for it. It’s
difficult work. Change management can be very hard especially in the supply
chain. Ultimately, we want to go all the way up the supply chain and ensure as
much sustainability as possible.”
Bolan’s passion for the issue goes back two decades and
stems from her interest in the sustainable built environment. Through her
consulting firm, Pierre Noir she a LEED Green Associate accredited by the U.S.
Green Building Council and member of the Urban Green Council in NYC. She is
also certified in Sustainable Building Design by the highly acclaimed Pratt
Institute where she focused on passive house design. She holds several patents
for sustainable energy related innovations.
“A major hobby of mine is interior design and the health of
ourselves and of our living systems. Outside of Google, I work in the built
environment and sustainable interior design and regenerative agriculture. It
just feels like we can create a cleaner world and environment for ourselves and
for our children.”
“There wasn’t as much interest in these past 20 years to
hire people like myself to work in those fields but that is changing now which
is why I work full time on sustainability. I love the work we do at Google
because we have the ability to really impact millions of users and make changes
that can move that needle.”
And, as unlikely as it may seem, Bolan hasn’t yet given up
her other sideline as a stand-up. She has performed at various New York comedy
clubs, including the Gotham Comedy Club, and the famed Comedy Cellar.
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