Evaluating the carbon impact of ICT

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Why are life cycle assessment (LCA) based methodologies important?

Why do we need to continue to work on these approaches?

This paper looks at the various methodologies on offer or in development and then compares their capabilities and objectives with the expectations of the various stakeholders: government, industry and academia. It concludes that LCA is an important tool in helping us understand the carbon impact of ICT, but it is not a cure-all. Just like any other tool, LCA should be used for the purpose for which it is designed: for identifying the most carbon intensive points in the lifecycle and directing reduction efforts accordingly. LCA is also appropriate for comparing the carbon impact of different supply chains (sourcing copper in Australia as opposed to Brazil) or comparing different technologies (reading a newspaper compared to an e-reader).

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