CT10A7000 GREEN IT AND SUSTAINABLE COMPUTING

Computing our way to paradise, chapter 4

Ekaterina Gribanova, 426577

Chapter 4Lulled to Complacency: ICTs and

Energy and Materials Consumption

Levels of analysis

• Direct effects (both beneficial and harmful)• Indirect effects• Meta-level analysis

5 ways, in which the introduction of ICTs might be expected to influence consumption activities

THE MICROCHIP: THE FOUNDATION OF ICTS

THE MICROCHIP: THE FOUNDATION OF ICTS

ICTs spending:• $2 trillion in 1999 • $3.2 trillion in 2007

Silicon microchips are the basis of all ICTsWorld production of semiconductors:• $150 billion in 1999 • 13 percent annual increase in the previous two

decades.

The impacts of semiconductor manufacturing form a key ingredient of the sustainability of ICTs

THE MICROCHIP: THE FOUNDATION OF ICTS

• The large volume and number of chemicals use in silicon chip manufacturing. => Environmental and human risks.

• Smaller feature size of newer generation chips could imply less materials use per transistor, but it is also have the opposite effect.

• There has not been a lot of evidence to support the assumption that the environmentally damaging stages of silicon manufacturing are located in developing countries

TRANSPORTATION AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Audioconferencing and Videoconferencing

• Reduction the travel expenses and environmental impacts of organizations

• Time savings• Business meetings without physical

mobility • But casual talk during meetings,

social interaction, and nonverbal cues are lost.

• Needs for meeting in person is remained

Urban Development

• ICTs generate new physical collections of economic activity not necessarily based on physical proximity

• Traditional forces defining urban areas will continue to drive many businesses toward urban regions.

• Growth in demand for urban transportation and additional urban infrastructures

Telecommuting and Telework

• Desire to work away from office => Reductions in needed office spaces

• Office energy saves, but additional energy is required for the home office

• Shift from a point office to a mobile, on-road office.

Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems

• Demand on transport infrastructure increases => Local road networks become congested with goods and people => Necessary to increase system efficiencies => Intelligent vehicle highway systems (IVHSs) are solution

• IVHSs regulate the flow of traffic; give drivers up-to-the-moment information on road and traffic conditions; provide assistance to certain driving tasks; assess road tolls without hindering traffic etc.

Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems

• Provision of additional highway infrastructure ultimately results in more traffic generated through the process of latent demand.

• ATIS would provide the greatest benefits when applied by a limited number of users

• The use of ATIS by emergency vehicles• Improvement the attractiveness of public

transportation

Just-in-Time Delivery

• Just-in-time (JIT) delivery of products has the ability to reduce excess inventories

• Reduction warehousing costs and the subsequent environmental

• But manufacturers may require larger warehouse space due of benefits gained by reductions in retail spaces

ICTs may solve one problem only to create other potential problems

CONSUMPTION

E-Commerce

• Simple to compare and buy goods desired• E-commerce may enhance competition,

reduce prices, and increase demand • Optimization transport logistic and

reduction overproduction, manufacturing waste, and warehouse space

• E-commerce accelerates the delivery of goods => increase in courier, express, and parcel services

E-Commerce

• Locally produced products may decline • Consumers won’t entirely abandon

conventional forms of shopping => it should be a complement, rather than a pure substitute, to conventional shopping patterns.

• E-commerce is likely to increase transport distances and delivery frequencies

• Potential for manufacturers to sell their products directly to consumers

Music File Sharing, Digital Photography, and Digital Media

• By using the Internet to download (at no cost) music files, consumers may choose precisely the music desired, in the electronic format of their choice.

• CDs vs MP3 devices• Clearly, the entertainment industries “do

not intend to stand idly by while others build business illegally off of our music”.

Music File Sharing, Digital Photography, and Digital Media

• Adoption digital photography => avoidance of toxic chemicals during the developing procedure

• New storage drivers are continuously growing in capacity

• The environmental impacts of using Internet

Housing and Households

• Impacts of various networking technologies in households on energy consumption 1. Process control technology2. White goods3. Multimedia services

• “intelligent home” => significant increase electricity consumption => additional electricity demand => increase in nationwide electricity demand

E-Learning

• E-learning provides greater access to educational opportunities

• Delivering courses and tutorials electronically

• Effects such as printing from the Internet site and additional home heating counterbalance the reduced need for printed matter and travel to tutorials.

PRODUCTION

Packaging and Marketing

• Marketing through the Internet permits the potential to vastly reduce packaging => displacement large amounts of plastics, papers, and other materials, not to mention toxic dyes and inks.

• Reduction of production of catalogues• “Pop-up” images, advertisements, new techniques,

and new applications are regularly embedded into Internet search engines and websites

• Young children as impressionable consumersegment

Product Design and Development

• Design for the Environment and Eco-Design

ICTs have the potential to greatly improve the design efficiency and, subsequently, the resource consumption of product and process developments.

There are four barriers to eco-innovation improvements:1. environmental considerations are omitted in the initial

phase, which is creatively essential 2. the need for increased organizational complexity and stake-

holder participation 3. the need for large investments in technology and changes

in marketing approaches 4. there is the requirement to identify current and future

consumer needs

Product Design and Development

• Mass Customization

• Products specifically designed for consumer’s individual wishes and exact specifications => reduction the potential for waste and inefficiencies, greatly reducing resource consumption. Reduced stockpiles of unwanted consumer goods and reduced warehouse needs.

• More powerful marketing opportunities combined with customization may induce consumers to purchase what they may previously have neglected.

NETWORKING AND ELECTRICITY

CONSUMPTION

NETWORKING AND ELECTRICITY

CONSUMPTION • Energy demands of data servers and data centers• Electricity consumption by the measured devices

is expected to grow as more applications and users adopt ICT applications

• Behavioral changes can lead to substantial energy savings that may even be higher than the savings achieved through technological progress alone. Conversely, one might expect that behavioral changes may lead to substantial energy increases.

SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION

• The application of ICTs at the micro level appear beneficial, reducing the consumption of specific products or processes. However, this is not so clear at the macro level.

• The ability of ICTs to achieve more materially sustainable consumption in the various applications explored remains very uncertain. While there may be much potential, the application selected and how it is applied are essential ingredients. Important elements of this recipe are the behavior, social, and institutional arrangements driving ICT selection and application.