elements for calculating the carbon footprint of your computer
What is the carbon footprint of a computer?,
Terra Eco, 11/02/11
Frederic Bordage, Greenit.fr
a new study by manufacturer Fujitsu sheds light on the impact of CO2 in the manufacture and use of a brand new computer.
After nine months working with the research institute Bifa Augsburg, Fujitsu has just introduced the carbon footprint of its computer Esprimo E9900. This study was conducted according to international standards ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 that define the methodology to realize Cycle Analysis (LCA). The results were verified by an independent third party, the Fraunhofer IZM. can therefore consider that these results are serious . The Esprimo E9900
is a desktop "standard." It is composed of an Intel CoreTMi5-670, 2 x 2 GB DDR3 memory life, a 250 GB hard drive, an optical reader-writer, and an Nvidia Geforce 9500 GS. He is certified by EPEAT Silver, Energy Star 5.0, Blue Angel and Nordic Swan.
In total, its carbon footprint is 339 kg eq. CO2.
It breaks down as follows:
Component Manufacturing : 302 kg eq. CO2
Transportation: 34 kg eq. CO2
assembly of components: 3 kg eq. CO2
the connection is made in Europe while the production of key electronic components takes place in China. Some expensive components such as microprocessors are flown while the less sensitive parts (boxes, etc..) Arrive in Europe by boat. It is for this reason that the cost of CO2 transport is higher than that of the assembly.
cutting by component is as follows:
1. Motherboard: 90 kg eq. CO2
2. Memory: 72 kg eq. CO2
3. Graphics: 36 kg eq. CO2
4. Power requirements: 32 kg eq. CO2
5. Other components: housing, cables, etc.. : 72 kg CO2
For the use phase, Fujitsu has chosen the Busy profile Board for Energy Star 5.0 desktop with a duration of use of 260 business days, giving an annual consumption of 113.6 kWh.
The carbon footprint of the use is:
Germany: 75 kg eq. CO2 per year
France: 7 kg eq. CO2 per year (depending on the emission factor of ADEME)
In France, it is necessary to use 48 years this central unit (screen not included) to emit as much CO2 as the phases of manufacturing, transportation and end of life together!
Energy savings on the use phase (off, standby, etc..) Therefore have a very small effect on reducing the carbon footprint compares al'allongement of hours of use.
With Desktop
To be complete, it should add a screen.
ADEME estimates that production of a flat screen emits 676 kg eq. CO2.
Although this figure seems very high today, it gives us an order of magnitude overall footprint of a workstation recent: 1 015 kg eq. CO2 for a full shift.
Regarding the use phase, Enertech estimated average consumption of an LCD display in France is 46.5 kWh per year . Again, this figure is quite high, but it is a realistic order of magnitude. The average consumption of the entire desktop Fujitsu Esprimo E9900 + flat screen Enertech will be using 160 kWh per year, or about 10 kg eq. CO2 a year.
In the end, to emit as much CO2 as the manufacture of a full shift, it would have to use 100 years old France!
PS: A big thank you to Fujitsu for providing us with this document. We look forward to Dell, HP and Lenovo are transparent.
This article was originally published on the site greenit.fr
Read also on Terra eco:
Mac or PC: Which is greener?
http://www.terra-economica.info/Quelle-est-l-empreinte-carbone-d, 15758.html
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