Assessing the Environmental Implications of Autonomous Vehicle Data Management

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are presented extensively in research literature as a technology that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions through efficiency gains. However, A V data management is one area in which AVs will be adding energy use that previously did not exist for motor vehicles. Due attention to this aspect of A V operation has been neglected in many preeminent studies on A V environmental impacts, so calculating an environmental estimate for data management helps better frame the role that A V s can play in addressing climate change. This research aims to establish initial upper and lower bounds of the data management emissions for A V operation. Preliminary results show that the storage, transfer, and security measures of data alone could result in about the same emissions as adding over 5 million vehicles in the U.S. by 2030, revealing that expanding the life cycle of A V assessment to include data management could help avoid unintended negative consequences.