Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, today announced that its AI-driven sustainability solution – Energy Expert – has been trialed to measure and analyze carbon emissions from temporary construction built to host the first Olympic Esports Week, generating data-driven insights on the choice of materials and equipment. The tool has been deployed through Alibaba Cloud’s partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Alibaba Cloud deployed its proven carbon measurement tool, Energy Expert, to measure and analyze the carbon emissions of the event’s temporary construction. A series of metrics including the impact of energy consumption, waste management, signage and decoration were assessed. This software-as-a-service tool was used by the Local Organizing Committee to compare the relative impacts of several types of materials and equipment.

Leveraging the latest tech-driven sustainability solution, Energy Expert allows event organizers to identify the sources of the carbon emissions from venue construction and operation, quantify the carbon footprint generated by a venue and visualize a venue’s sustainability performance via an integrated dashboard and online reports.

According to Alibaba Cloud’s Energy Expert, the carbon footprint of temporary construction for the Olympic Esports Week 2023 is estimated at 274 tons CO2e, after replacing 60% of printed signage with digital alternatives which led to 14 tons CO2e of carbon dioxide emissions reductions, as well as reusing 50% of carpets after the event that would slash emissions further by 10 tons CO2e.

“We are always looking for ways to reduce our impact on the environment, and we’re pleased to work with Alibaba Cloud to apply cutting-edge technologies to measure carbon emissions so we can continue to make a difference,” said Vincent Pereira, Head of Virtual Sport of IOC Sports Department.

“We have been supporting the IOC’s digital transformation of the Olympics since Tokyo 2020, and it has been an honour to be part of this latest, historic milestone for virtual sport. Sustainability is one of the priorities for our sports innovation roadmap. As the sports industry continues to evolve, we’re passionate about providing organizations with timely data, actionable insights and energy-saving recommendations that make positive and tangible impacts,” said Selina Yuan, President of International Business, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence.

The first Olympic Esports Week marks the latest step in the collaboration between the IOC and Alibaba on digital transformation – following the success of developing sports innovations for Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 – and is Alibaba’s first large-scale international project to tackle carbon emissions within the esports industry.

The esports industry has a growing environmental impact as the sport becomes more mainstream. Industry analysis estimates that in 2022 a single esports team could create as much as 100 tonnes of CO2 emissions [1]. Individual consumption is also growing as 40% of the global population (three billion people) now play video games, according to industry analyst firm DFC Intelligence, meaning that there’s a significant impact to be addressed.

Besides the carbon measurement of temporary construction, to draw public attention on the importance of reducing carbon footprints, Alibaba Cloud’s web application for Olympic Esports Week, invites the public to take photos of items around them (such as keyboards and headsets) to help understand the carbon footprint of each item and actions that can be taken to reduce this footprint, such as increasing the lifetime of digital equipment or buying second hand equipment. This is achieved through integrating Alibaba Cloud’s AI technologies with traditional emission datasets. Participants can also pledge to take carbon reduction actions in their daily life, such as bringing their e-waste to dedicated collection points for recycling. Participants agreeing to the pledge can earn points on the app, with an aim to earn a Sustainability Champion badge, as part of the web application.

The inaugural Olympic Esports Week, taking place at Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre, features the best of virtual sports, including esports competitions, exhibition matches, exhibitions of the latest innovations, as well as a series of panel discussions and education sessions organized by IOC. The festival also played host to the Olympic Esports Series finals, which was the culmination of this year’s Olympic Esports Series which saw top Olympic Esports athletes from around the world competing in ten disciplines for a gold medal.

As a global leading cloud infrastructure provider, Alibaba Cloud is committed to helping organizations slash carbon emissions with emerging technologies such as intelligence computing and AI technologies. Leading the forefront of this notion, Alibaba Cloud strives to achieve Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon neutrality and commits to powering its cloud computing with 100% clean energy by 2030.

[1] Esports Insider, Is ‘going green’ the future of esports?