As the development of DAB+ digital radio continues to progress, determining the environmental impact of DAB+ is one of WorldDAB’s key priorities.
WorldDAB has published a factsheet – Understanding the environmental impact of DAB – presenting the findings of multiple recent studies looking into the environmental and economic impact of broadcasting radio via DAB and other platforms.
Focusing on three areas – energy consumption, transmission costs and recycling initiatives – key findings are:
- The BBC estimates that DAB radio energy consumption per device hour (distribution and receivers) is lower than for any other platform, i.e. AM, FM, IP or DTV
- Bavarian public broadcaster, Bayerischer Rundfunk, found that broadcasting one service on DAB+ required, on average, only one fifth of the energy required to broadcast one service on FM
- Swiss public broadcaster SRG SSR estimates that after FM switch-off 2022-2023 the total energy consumption for broadcast radio distribution via DAB+ will be less than 10% of what it was for FM
- MDR, public broadcaster for Germany’s federal states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, found that radio services broadcast via DAB+ would require 10% of the current radiated power (ERP)
View the factsheet