Computers and the Environment: Understanding and Managing their Impacts, Vol. 14
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Overview
Personal computers have made life convenient in many ways, but what about their impacts on the environment due to production, use and disposal? Manufacturing computers requires prodigious quantities of fossil fuels, toxic chemicals and water. Rapid improvements in performance mean we often buy a new machine every 1-3 years, which adds up to mountains of waste computers. How should societies respond to manage these environmental impacts?
This volume addresses the environmental impacts and management of computers through a set of analyses on issues ranging from environmental assessment, technologies for recycling, consumer behaviour, strategies of computer manufacturing firms, and government policies. One conclusion is that extending the lifespan of computers (e.g. through reselling) is an environmentally and economically effective strategy that deserves more attention from governments, firms and the general public.
Synopsis
The topic here is not, yet again, how to find information about the environment on the Web, but about the impact physical computers themselves have on the environment. Many contributors are environmental managers of computer corporations, several others are from the United Nations University in Japan and Germany. They consider such aspects as the production of personal computers, the European Union's new directive, energy consumption, green demand, strategizing the end-of-life handling, recycling, enhancing the market for used personal computers, and policy. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewWondering what to do with that outdated computer that you are about to replace? It turns out that the question is much more important than you might have thought. In Computers and the Environment, editors Ruediger Kuehr and Eric Williams have put together an excellent book with contributions from professionals who look seriously at the environmental consequences of the ubiquitous use of personal computers. This book is really an eye-opener. The contributors address a huge range of environmental impacts of computers in your world -- from concerns on manufacturing PCs to issues related to their disposal when the PCs (rapidly!) become obsolete.
The first contribution comes from H. Scott Matthews and Deanna H. Matthews. They begin with a review of the rapid growth in the production and adoption of PCs and also point out that recent years have seen the rise of new and smaller IT products such as the cell phone. Next, Klaus Hieronymi and Axel Schneider compare two future scenarios for electronics recycling centers in the year 2018. Reinhard Hohn and Anne Brinkley follow with an examination of IBM's environmental management strategies, ranging from product design, supply chain management, and manufacturing to sales operations and customer relations management. The environmental management of another global player in the PC industry, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, is reviewed by Harald Podratzky and is largely dedicated to the company's efforts to reduce environmental impacts by focusing on the individual stages in their products' life cycle. Next, Danielle Cole analyzes the implications of the rise of the PC on electricity use. Mohamed Saied and German T. Velasquez examine how consumer behavior relates to the greening of PCs. And finally, Eric Williams and Yukihiro Sasak offer an environmental assessment comparing different end-of-life options for computers.
How often you replace your PC -- and how you dispose of it -- is an important personal decision; but what large organizations such as state and local governments, corporations, and colleges do with the multitude of computers used by employees and students turns out to be environmentally critical. To limit that impact, you need this outstanding book. John R. Vacca
John R. Vacca, the former computer security official (CSO) for NASA's space station program (Freedom), has written nearly 40 books about advanced storage, computer security, and aerospace technology.