The tech sector’s sustainability debate has mostly centered around data centers. New research concludes that end-user devices are responsible for at least four times the carbon emissions. Data center servers typically have a five year replacement cycle. The manufacturing and operations of these electronics take a much larger collective toll, adding 24 percent of total emissions. The report calls for a renewed effort to redefine the use and purpose of sustainability metrics in each sector.
It’s the promise of getting ahead of a quickly changing landscape of carbon emissions. Internationally, end-user devices already produce 1.5 to 2 times the carbon of every data center globally combined. This leads to a critical question of just how effective these sustainability measures actually are. Additionally, it reflects the essential need for effective device lifecycle management to address emissions holistically.
Understanding Emissions from Devices and Data Centers
Data centers are frequently painted as the leading offenders in the tech industry’s climate impact. New math shows that they make up just half of the issue. Its data center operations account for 24 percent of its total emissions. At the same time, devices account for an equally alarming 60 percent.
The implications of these figures are profound. If consumers hold onto their smartphones three years rather than two, we could expect one-third less annual manufacturing emissions. That’s right, these emissions would increase by 33 percent! There are more than two billion active laptops in use globally today. With common replacement cycles of only two to three years, even modest gains in their durability would have meaningful emissions savings.
The Role of Manufacturing and Lifecycles in Sustainability
The phrase “embodied carbon” describes the greenhouse emissions generated during the manufacturing stage of all devices. For end-user devices, nearly half of total emissions are attributable to embodied carbon. By comparison, data centers make up just 16 percent of those emissions. This major contrast indicates that the majority of sustainability effort has to move away from operations and instead go to the way we manufactured things.
Smartphones, laptops, and printers each have a different replacement cycle. This contrasts with a typical two year cycle for smartphone replacement, three to four years on laptops and five years for printers. As EV adoption soars, frequent turnover becomes an environmental fiction that costs the planet. It further highlights opportunities manufacturers and consumers can pursue together to increase sustainability initiatives.
As a way of putting the scale of improvement needed into perspective, let’s take a look at the massive difference that extending device longevity would make. Just lengthening the lifecycle of a smartphone by only one year would have an impressive impact by reducing half of all manufacturing emissions. Data centers are preparing themselves for a major boom with the increased AI workloads. By 2028, these workloads could represent 6.7 to 12 percent of overall U.S. electricity consumption, underscoring the importance of addressing device emissions at the outset.
The Future of Sustainability in Technology
Just as the technology sector is with each passing day, its approach to sustainability must evolve. The findings summarized here show that device emissions may be much more important than previously realized. This goes against the common narrative that data centers are the biggest offenders in carbon emissions. That means an enormous paradigm shift in measuring and managing emissions. The whole industry plays a role here.
Policy makers, manufacturers, and consumers must collaborate to foster a sustainable ecosystem that prioritizes longer device lifecycles and reduces reliance on frequent replacements. This kind of collaboration is fundamental to any integrated efforts to shrink carbon footprints. It better positions us for a more environmentally-friendly future as technology evolves.