Carbon Footprint

carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation etc.

The carbon footprint is a measurement of all greenhouse gases we individually produce and has units of tonnes (or kg) of carbon dioxide equivalent.

A carbon footprint is made up of the sum of two parts, the primary footprint (shown by the green slices of the pie chart) and the secondary footprint (shown as the yellow slices).

1. The primary footprint is a measure of our direct emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels including domestic energy consumption and transportation (e.g. car and plane). We have direct control of these.

2. The secondary footprint is a measure of the indirect CO2 emissions from the whole lifecycle of products we use - those associated with their manufacture and eventual breakdown. To put it very simply – the more we buy the more emissions will be caused on our behalf.

Disadvantages Of Carbon Footprint

Things with large carbon footprints do damage to the earth by releasing large amounts of carbon. Things with small carbon footprints do little damage. A carbon footprint is just a number, telling you how much carbon is produced in the making, producing, transporting and using of a certain thing. This thing could be a car, or a bottle of beer, or a tin of vegetables, or your house, or even you.

   For example, the carbon footprint of a tin of vegetables that was produced on the other side of the world would consider the collection, transport, cooking and canning of the crop. It would then factor in the cost of transportation half way round the world, by ship, air, truck and perhaps your own vehicle. Compare this to vegetables grown in your own garden, or at least in your own local area.

   So an item with a large carbon footprint releases more carbon into the atmosphere, adding to the greenhouse gases already there, and contributing to global warming, much more than an item with a small carbon footprint.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Electricity generation and transportation-related activities account for well over half of the 14 percent increase in greenhouse gas emissions in the United States from 1990 to 2008. The Federal Transit Administration estimates that switching to public transportation instead of driving would allow the average American to reduce his or her carbon footprint by 10 percent. Americans could also reduce their collective carbon footprint by changing their incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent lights, preventing the emission of 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gases.

Climate Change

Climate change is the ultimate effect of large carbon footprints. Greenhouse gases, whether natural or human-produced, contribute to the warming of the planet. From 1990 to 2005, carbon dioxide emissions increased by 31 percent. By 2008, the emissions had contributed to a 35 percent increase in radiative warming, or a shift in Earth's energy balance toward warming, over 1990 levels. The decade from 2000 to 2009 was the warmest decade on record worldwide, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Change Indicators Report.

Depletion of Resources

Large carbon footprints deplete resources on large and small scales, from a country's deforestation activities to one home's increased use of air conditioning. The more those with large carbon footprints use resources, the more greenhouse gases increase and spur further climate change. The Environmental Protection Agency suggests that consideration of different energy supplies and conservation of current ones will be needed to balance energy demand. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions as much as possible and off-setting the remaining emissions by planting trees, for example, or supporting alternative energy efforts, will help to reduce the negative effects of carbon footprints

Green Computing

Green computing or green IT, refers to environmentally sustainable computing or IT. In the article Harnessing Green IT, Principles and Practices, San Murugesan defines the field of green computing as "the study and practice of designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, servers, and associated subsystems such as monitors, printers, storage devices, and networking and communications systems , efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact on the environment.

The goals of green computing are similar to green chemistry reduce the use of hazardous materials, maximize energy efficiency during the product's lifetime, and promote the recyclability or biodegradability of defunct products and factory waste.

Research continues into key areas such as making the use of computers as energy-efficient as possible, and designing algorithms and systems for efficiency-related computer technologies.

In 1992, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched Energy Star,

a voluntary labeling program which is designed to promote and recognize

energy-efficiency in monitors, climate control equipment, and other

technologies. This resulted in the widespread adoption

 of sleep mode among consumer electronics.The term

"green computing" was probably coined shortly after

the Energy Star program began

Impacts To The Environment

Electronic waste, e-waste, e-scrap, or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. Informal processing of electronic waste in developing countries may cause serious health and pollution problems, though these countries are also most likely to reuse and repair electronics. Some electronic scrap components, such as CRTs, may contain contaminants such as lead, cadmium, beryllium, or brominated flame retardants

Hazardous

Mercury: found in  flat screen monitors. Health effects include sensory impairment, dermatitis, memory loss, and muscle weakness. Environmental effects in animals include death, reduced fertility, slower growth and development.

Sulphur: found in lead-acid batteries. Health effects include liver damage, kidney damage, heart damage, eye and throat irritation. When released in to the environment, it can create sulphuric acid.

BFRs: Used as flame retardants in plastics in most electronics. Health effects include impaired development of the nervous system, thyroid problems, liver problems. Environmental effects: similar effects as in animals as humans

Lead: solder, CRT monitor glass, lead-acid batteries, some formulations of PVC. A typical 15-inch cathode ray tube may contain 1.5 pounds of lead,but other CRTs have been estimated as having up to 8 pounds of lead.

Beryllium oxide: filler in some thermal interface materials such as thermal grease used on heatsinks for CPUs and power transistors, magnetrons.

Why We Should Apply Green Computing? And How To Apply Green Computing?

Why We Should Apply Green Computing?

Computers are made of poisonous materials like lead, chromium, cadium and mercury. If computers are buried in landfill, they can leach harmful chemicals into waterways and the environment and if burned release toxic contaminants into the air we breathe. Computers consume energy and no-one has come up with a practical solution for the potential environmental disaster of millions of obsolete computers hitting landfill sites around the world.

Computers can also be harmful to your health because toxic chemicals evaporate in a computer room, are absorbed by your body through your lungs. The radiation that is emitted from computer monitors can pose a serious health risk especially to those with long hours of exposure.

How To Apply Green Computing?

Reducing energy consumption by PCs

We can significantly reduce energy consumption by making  small changes to the ways we use computers. Most personal desktop computers run even when they aren’t being used, because users needlessly leave them on, wasting electricity. Furthermore, computers generate heat and require additional cooling, which adds to the total power consumption and cost for the enterprise. While the savings in energy costs per PC may not seem like much, the combined savings for hundreds of computers in an enterprise is considerable. We can reduce PC energy consumption by adopting several measures

Enabling power management features.

Without sacrificing performance, we can program computers to automatically power down

to an energy-saving state when we aren’t using them.

Turning off the system when not in use.

This is the most basic energy conservation strategy for most systems. Many people believe

the misconception that a computer’s life is shortened by turning it on and off, so they

leave their computers on all the time. The electronic equipment’s life span depends on

its cumulative operational time and its temperature. Turning it off reduces both of these

factors, increasing the life of the equipment.

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Green Computing

Advantages :

• Reduced energy usage from green computing techniques translates into lower carbon dioxide emissions, stemming from a reduction in the fossil fuel used in power plants and transportation. 

• Conserving resources means less energy is required to produce, use, and dispose of products. 

• Saving energy and resources saves money. 

• Green computing even includes changing government policy to encourage recycling and lowering energy use by individuals and businesses. 

• Reduce the risk existing in the laptops such as chemical known to cause cancer, nerve damage and immune reactions in humans. 

Disadvantages :

• Green computing could actually be quite costly. 

• Some computers that are green may be considerably underpowered. 

• Rapid technology change 

Organization That Involve In Green Computing

DELL :

Carbon Neutral, Headquaters uses 100% renewable enegy, computer product use 25% less power  (by 2010).

 Hewlett Packard :

Program to reduce GHG and TOXIC wastes in their products and supply chains.

    Intel :

Focus is on increasing speed while reducing energy usage in their produ.

IBM :

Has had formal environmental policies since 1971 , and requires all employees to have environmental awareness training. 

Microsoft :

New design of Windows uses less energy. Also includes the use of virtualization technologies.