Can current policies help us reach "net-zero emissions"?
Climate policies that promote energy efficiency, renewables and circular electronics to help us reach "net-zero emissions" are not realistic. To begin, researchers estimate that the digital industry's carbon footprint increases annually between six and ten percent. Adhering to the Paris Agreement (to keep below a 1.5 degreesC global temperature increase) will require digital tech to reduce its CO2 emissions 42% by 2030, 72% by 2040 and 91% by 2050.
Regardless how often the claim is repeated, efficiency gains in other sectors will not compensate for the digital industry's own growing extractivism,7 water use,8 waste9 or emissions.
Freitag suggests that only annual constraints on consumption (i.e., COVID), or a tax or cap on carbon emissions, could actually help reduce CO2 emissions significantly.
In any case, reducing our environmental impacts will require reducing production and consumption of digital goods.
Who's ready to sustain a digital diet?
Endnotes
- Click Here
- 2013/179/UE Commission Recommendation of 9 April 2013 on the use of common methods to measure and communicate the life cycle environmental performance of products and organisations Climate change, Ozone Depletion, Ecotoxicity for aquatic fresh water, Human Toxicity - cancer effects, Human Toxicity - non cancer effects, Particulate Matter/Respiratory Inorganics, Ionising Radiation - human health effects, Photochemical Ozone Formation, Acidification, Eutrophication - terrestrial, Eutrophication - aquatic, Resource Depletion - water, Resource Depletion - mineral, fossil, Land Transformation.
- Freitag, Charlotte et al., The climate impact of ICT: A review of estimates, trends and regulations, Physics and Society, 2020.
- Waze does not seem to report using Artificial Intelligence (AI) for navigation, but chose AI for its more recent carpool service to match drivers and riders (a choice not making AI necessary).
- Bitcoin is by far the most popular cryptocurrency. While writing this article in February 2023, unsustainable cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Ethereum 1.0, Monero, and a total of 316 currencies, use "proof of work" (PoW) consensus algorithm to validate each transaction, consuming high amounts of energy. On the other hand, 243 cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum 2.0, Cardano, and Solana use "proof of stake" (PoS) that requires much less energy. Finally, some currencies use their own consensus mechanism.
- The Tesla Model 3 weighs 1.8 tons unladen and consumes 151 Wh/km. With 750 kWh of electricity used by one Bitcoin transaction, this car can drive 750,000/151 km or about 5000 km (3100 miles).
- Sovacool, Benjamin K. et al., "Sustainable minerals and metals for a low-carbon future," Science, 3 Jan. 2020.
- Asianometry, "The Semiconductor Water Problem," 2 Sept., 2021..
- Lepawsky, Josh, Reassembling Rubbish: Worlding Electronic Waste, MIT Press, 2021.
Katie Singer writes about the energy, extractions, toxic waste and greenhouse gases involved in manufacturing computers, telecom infrastructure, electric vehicles and other electronic technologies. She believes that if she's not aware that she's part of the problem, then she can't be part of the solution. She dreams that every smartphone user learns about the supply chain of one substance (of 1000+) in a smartphone. Her most recent book is An Electronic Silent Spring. She currently writes about nature, democracy and technology for Meer.com. Visit www.OurWeb.tech and www.ElectronicSilentSpring.com.
Miguel Coma is an engineer in telecommunications and an Information Technology architect. After over two decades of professional activity in various industries, he began to write, speak and consult about our digital environmental footprint. He believes in peoples' potential to use technology wisely and create sustainable progress.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
