Climate change and the rapid growth of artificial intelligence have brought a fresh national focus to the sustainability of data centers. Most of the emissions associated with IT devices don’t come from operating them—it’s when they’re made that the bulk of the emissions are produced. This moment marks an opportunity to rethink the tech industry’s role in creating a more sustainable planet. Data centers specifically have been leading on a number of environmental efforts.
Additionally, a growing share of pollution and emissions—about 75 percent according to the latest research—come from devices during their manufacturing process, a consideration called embodied carbon. Embodied carbon has a huge impact on data center emissions. It represents 40 percent of their total production. Data center operations are responsible for 60 percent of the emissions, primarily due to forced PUE driven metrics. These numbers show an inconvenient fact: data centers are publicly criticized for energy use. The consequences from device manufacturing are just as, if not more important.
The Role of Device Emissions
Together with the cloud, device emissions account for 95 percent of the overall environmental footprint of the information technology sector. To put that in context, data centers currently account for 24 percent of total IT-associated emissions. Yet they represent an ironic 60 percent of emissions in their group. This mismatch exposes a huge blind spot in the conversation around sustainability. Carbon impact of end-user devices deployment and use is about 1.5 to 2 times as much as that of all data centers combined.
Having a better grasp of the lifecycle of these devices can help contextualize such high emissions numbers. Data center server hardware on average gets replaced every five years. The average smartphone has a lifespan of two years or less before being replaced. Laptops usually have lifecycles of three to four years long, while printers have a five-year replacement cycle. How often these replacements happen has a huge impact on per-replacement carbon emissions.
Manufacturing processes further exacerbate this issue. Manufacturing just one smartphone emits about 50 kg CO2e. It’s no surprise that every year, consumers replace an estimated 1 billion smartphones. This manufacturing process, just think of the ones we described above, creates about 50 million tonnes of CO2e emissions. This figure highlights the dire need for the technology industry to rethink its sustainability approach.
The Impact of Extending Device Lifecycles
Perhaps the easiest fix to lower device-related emissions is to not replace smartphones and other devices quite as often. Extending smartphone lifecycles from two years to three, for example, can reduce manufacturing emissions by about a third each year. Or even better, we might witness an astounding 33 percent decrease. This relatively easy fix has the potential to be a huge win for the environment.
For laptops, the carbon footprint is particularly high, with each laptop adding in an estimated average of 200 kg CO2e. Supporting increased duration of use for laptops can have a major impact on total emissions. This is made all the more consequential given their replacement rate, and the emissions created in producing them.
The crux of getting there will be understanding consumer behavior and technology design. Manufacturers can play a crucial role by designing devices that are more durable and easier to repair, thereby promoting longer lifespans. Further, consumer awareness of the environmental consequences of constantly having to replace devices can help fuel the pressure to move toward a more sustainable model.
Rethinking Data Center Emissions
Though data centers are still key facets of today’s IT landscape, they need to change their tune when it comes to sustainability. Existing strategies only address energy efficiency and operational emissions. So too is recognizing and tackling the embodied carbon that comes with making new devices.
Data centers now are responsible for about 40 percent of their emissions via embodied carbon. This shocking statistic reminds us to focus on the big picture. Strategic sustainability efforts must prioritize not only operational efficiency, but the lifecycle impacts of the devices we deploy. By implementing strategies that reduce the demand for new devices through longer lifecycles, data centers can contribute to a significant decrease in overall IT emissions.
The hard part now is figuring out how to add these findings to the growing body of knowledge on tech industry sustainability best practices. Partnerships among manufacturers, policymakers, and consumers are key to catalyzing meaningful change. Collective action will be needed to develop systems that encourage sustainability and longevity instead of the culture of always consuming things faster.