# Chasing Carbon: The Elusive Environmental Footprint of Computing

**Authors:** Udit Gupta, Young Geun Kim, Sylvia Lee, Jordan Tse, Hsien-Hsin S. Lee, Gu-Yeon Wei, David Brooks, Carole-Jean Wu  
**arXiv:** [2011.02839](https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.02839)  
**Date:** 2020-10-28  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/paper/2011.02839v1/

## Key points

- Growing environmental impact of computing systems
- Quantifying the environmental effects of computing in terms of carbon emissions
- Carbon emissions primarily originate from operational energy consumption and hardware manufacturing and infrastructure
- Despite improvements in performance and power efficiency, the overall carbon footprint continues to grow
- Most emissions related to modern mobile and data-center equipment stem from hardware manufacturing and infrastructure
- Future directions for minimizing the environmental impact outlined
- Need for sustainable practices in both hardware production and infrastructure development emphasized
- Urgent need for mitigating the environmental impact of computing systems
- Importance of considering operational energy consumption, hardware manufacturing, and infrastructure when assessing carbon emissions
- Call to action for researchers and industry professionals to prioritize sustainability

## Summary

This paper titled "Chasing Carbon: The Elusive Environmental Footprint of Computing" addresses the growing environmental impact of computing systems. With recent advancements in algorithms, software, and hardware, computing has opened up numerous possibilities and applications. However, as computing becomes more ubiquitous, its environmental consequences cannot be ignored. The authors bring this issue to the attention of computer-systems researchers by conducting an analysis based on industry-reported data. They focus on quantifying the environmental effects of computing in terms of carbon emissions. Carbon emissions from computing systems primarily originate from two sources: operational energy consumption and hardware manufacturing and infrastructure. While there have been significant improvements in performance and power efficiency due to algorithmic, software, and hardware innovations, the overall carbon footprint of computer systems continues to grow. This work highlights that most emissions related to modern mobile and data-center equipment stem from hardware manufacturing and infrastructure. To address this pressing concern, the authors outline future directions for minimizing the environmental impact of computing systems. By quantifying the carbon output of computer systems, they provide valuable insights into the need for sustainable practices in both hardware production and infrastructure development. Overall, this paper sheds light on the urgent need for mitigating the environmental impact of computing systems amidst their increasing prevalence. It emphasizes the importance of considering not only operational energy consumption but also hardware manufacturing and infrastructure when assessing carbon emissions. The findings presented here serve as a call to action for researchers and industry professionals to prioritize sustainability in their pursuit of technological advancements.