{"id":99586,"key":"Environmental_impact_of_ICTs","title":"Environmental impact of ICTs","latest":{"id":1224080,"timestamp":"2026-01-09T00:02:42Z"},"content_model":"wikitext","license":{"url":"https://www.appropedia.org/Appropedia:Copyrights","title":"CC-BY-SA-4.0"},"source":"[[File:Minage de crypto-monnaie (2).jpg|thumb|Cryptocurrency mining setup]]\n\nThe intangibility of the Internet brings forth the challenge of connecting the mobilization and transformation of intangible resources, with tangible environmental impacts.<ref name=\"fog\">Rousillhe, Gauthier (2021). Towards a Fossil-Free Internet: The Fog of Enactment. Priority areas for research in digital sustainability. The Green Web Foundation. https://www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/publications/report-fog-of-enactment/</ref>\n\n== Areas of impact ==\n\n=== Electronics ===\n\n* Resource extraction: the production of devices requires the Some examples are lithium, cobalt,<ref name=\"cobalt\">A Power Struggle Over Cobalt Rattles the Clean Energy Revolution—The New York Times. (n.d.). Retrieved April 6, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/20/world/china-congo-cobalt.html</ref> and [[Wikipedia:Rare-earth element|rare earth minerals]].\n* Production of devices:\n* Electronics disposal:\n* Datacenters operation: great amounts of water are used for cooling servers, depleting in many cases resources from local communities.<ref name=\"terraformacion\">Terraformación, I. L. de. (2022, March 22). Rethinking the status of water in digital technologies. Instituto Latinoamericano de Terraformación. https://terraforminglatam.net/rethinking-the-status-of-water-in-digital-technologies</ref>\n\n=== Land use ===\n\n* Location of data centers in colder regions and near superficial or underground water bodies.\n\n=== Energy ===\n\n* Data storage\n* Computing power in resource-intensive processes such as artificial intelligence and the mining of crypto assets. For example,<ref name=\"cambridge-crypto\">Hileman, G., & Rauchs, M. (2017). Global Cryptocurrency Benchmark Study. https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/faculty-research/centres/alternative-finance/publications/global-cryptocurrency/</ref>\n\n== Measuring impact ==\n\nThere is a difficulty in the creation of models for measuring the environmental impact of ICTs.\n\n* Lack of comparable data.\n* Lack of measurements or even secrecy regarding the tangible impacts of physical data centers in terms of energy usage, and resource extractions.\n* There is no roadmap to more sustainable practices.\n\n=== Initiatives ===\n\n* Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI)<ref name=\"cambridge\">Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance. (n.d.). Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI). Retrieved April 8, 2022, from https://ccaf.io/cbeci/mining_map</ref>\n\n== References ==\n\n<references />\n\n{{Page data\n| keywords = carbon footprint, Internet, ICT, climate change, consumer behaviour, energy efficiency, ecological footprint, information technology\n| sdg = SDG12 Responsible consumption and production\n| description = ICT’s environmental footprint is mapped on Appropedia, from mining and chip plants to data centers and e-waste, with ideas for lowering harm.\n}}\n\n[[Category:Internet]]\n[[Category:ICT]]\n[[Category:Climate change]]\n[[Category:Energy efficiency]]\n[[Category:Ecological footprint]]\n[[Category:Information technology]]"}