Green Computing: E-Waste, Energy, and Sustainability

Introduction

It has become increasingly clear that much of society needs to implement more sustainable practices to avoid many of the problems that future generations will face. These challenges will include numerous ecological and social factors. If the world continues consuming resources at its current pace, non-renewable resources will eventually run out. Considering the exponential population growth of humans, we are also beginning to approach the natural limitations that the Earth's systems can support. As such, it behooves us, as a species, to make the most efficient and effective use of our resources as possible. One aspect of this collective effort to adopt more sustainable practices involves computing.

There are many aspects of computing that need to be examined through the lens of sustainability. One aspect deals with energy consumption. Computers are responsible for the consumption of massive amounts of energy. Thus, one of the frontiers for "green" computing will be improving the efficiency of energy usage without compromising computing power or the end-user experience. However, there are also many other issues to consider regarding computing and sustainability, such as the massive amount of e-waste accumulating in some regions of the planet. One factor responsible for this accumulation is the relatively short lifecycles of electronics and computers. Another challenge that green computing will have to confront is the entire lifecycle of products — from creation to recycling — while finding ways to use resources more efficiently and reduce waste. This paper focuses on some of the key concerns of green computing that will face all future generations of computers.

Limits to Growth

For most of human history, we have conflated consumption with a better quality of life. Purchasing a washing machine, for example, was an effective solution to freeing up some of the manual labor found in most households, suddenly giving many people more time. The automobile gave us a new level of mobility and freedom of travel. Many previous technological breakthroughs have made massive improvements to the average person's quality of life, and as a result, many people view consumption and well-being as essentially the same phenomenon.

However, as Tim Jackson points out in his book Prosperity without Growth, consumption — or GDP — is no longer a suitable metric for prosperity (Jackson, 2009). We have reached a point at which additional consumption does not add the same kind of value to our lives that it did in previous generations. In fact, in some cases, additional consumption can actually be counterproductive to well-being. As a result of this trend, researchers such as Dunne (2005) have argued that the aesthetic roles of electronic products have significant potential to go beyond traditional concepts of value and enrich our lives in new ways (Dunne, 2005). The next generations of green computing hardware and software products will therefore incorporate more thoughtful design relative to the overall quality of the experience a user has with a product.

The Growing Problem of E-Waste

Another relevant factor in the future of green computing is the steady accumulation of electronic waste. The growth of e-waste is expected to rise exponentially in the coming years as more and more individuals discard their used computing devices. According to a report published in The Guardian in December 2013, the volume of electronic waste is estimated to increase at a rate of 33% in the near future (Hester & Harrison, 2009). The report, citing the UN's StEP Initiative, noted that the combined weight of all this e-waste would equal that of eight of the great Egyptian pyramids (Vidal, 2013). The accumulation of e-waste degrades many environmental systems and can also cause serious health implications for local residents. The future of green computing will therefore have to address this problem in some meaningful way.

There are many possible approaches to addressing e-waste accumulation. Much of the content of discarded products is actually recyclable. E-waste contains metals such as aluminum, copper, gold, and silver, as well as plastics and ferrous metals, all of which can be extracted after dismantling and reused in place of fresh raw materials. However, many of the processes used to recycle these materials are not yet cost-effective. As a result, it remains cheaper in the marketplace to purchase new raw materials than to purchase previously recycled ones. Some waste can be stored until such time as recycling becomes more cost-effective, but this approach does not address the environmental and public health concerns in the meantime.

Conclusion

The next generation of computing will ultimately have to integrate many concepts related to sustainability and green computing. These issues are complex and difficult to navigate. Many solutions have not yet been identified, or have not yet become cost-effective enough to implement on a mass scale. However, the threats to the environment and to human health have become increasingly salient and cannot be ignored indefinitely. To address these challenges, designers of green computing products will have to approach development from a more sustainable and comprehensive perspective — one that includes consideration of a product's entire lifecycle. Furthermore, society must find ways to provide the right financial incentives to make green computing a greater priority, thereby expediting its development to meet these growing challenges.

References

Dunne, A. (2005). Hertzian Tales: Electronic products, aesthetic experience and critical design. London & Cambridge: MIT Press.

Hester, R., & Harrison, R. (2009). Electronic Waste Management. Cambridge: RSC Publishing.

Jackson, T. (2009). Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet. Routledge.

Vidal, J. (2013). Toxic "e-waste" dumped in poor nations, says United Nations. Retrieved from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/dec/14/toxic-ewaste-illegal-dumping-developing-countries