Computing takes significant power, resources, and man-power. What are the environmental implications of computing in this context?
Essentially the energetic cost and the waste produced by devices as they are renewed is the main issue, but you could check an article in 2015 by Muhammad Irfan, from Pakistan who, along with his team, did some study on the matter.
"A Conspicuous Survey of Green Computing Environmental Impact ", International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies ISSN 2028-9324 Vol. 13 No. 4 Dec. 2015, pp. 935-945
The relationship between information and communications technology and the environment is complex:
- Positive impacts of ICT stem from the dematerialization associated with online delivery and smart approaches that lead to systemic efficiency improvements; greater energy and resource (e.g., metals, minerals, paper, etc.) efficiency in production and use; a veritable host of applications for monitoring and management; product stewardship and recycling; and substitution of transport and travel (e.g., telework).
- Negative impacts of ICT can arise from energy consumption and the materials used in the production and distribution of ICT equipment, energy consumption in use directly and for cooling, short product life cycles and e-waste, and exploitative applications (e.g., remote sensing that promotes overfishing).
Both positive and negative impacts from ICT can be direct and indirect, and vary greatly by industry. As always, the key is not the technology but how it is used.
Has anybody quantified the amount of energy wasted in computing and how that translates to pollution etc?
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