Computer Systems & Architecture7f - Environmental Implications

Lesson 1 – Making and Running Computers

LI: Describe the problem with manufacturing computers and identify ways to save energy.

• To manufacture a computer the following materials are used:• Fossil Fuels• Toxic Chemicals• Large amounts of water• Metals

• Computers use a lot of electricity. You can save energy by only having the device turned on when you are using it. Make sure your computer and monitor is configured to go into sleep mode when it is not being used. This saves large amounts of power.

Lesson 2 – Computers and Carbon Footprint

LI: Describe the effect that computers have on the environment.

• Making and running computers use electricity. This can involve burning fossil fuels, which produces carbon dioxide.

• Carbon Dioxide is a “greenhouse gas” which means that if affect climate change. The amount of Carbon Dioxide produced is a measure of our carbon footprint.

• Between 2010 – 2020, the IT industry is expected to more than triple.

• Large companies use data centres which use large amounts of electricity 24/7.

Lesson 3 – Disposing Old Equipment

LI: Explain why we need to dispose of old equipment properly and the problems of not doing so.

• Computers contain plastics, glass, steel, gold, lead, mercury, bromine and many other harmful chemicals.

• If this ends up in a landfill site dangerous chemicals can leek and mix with other chemicals to become even more hazardous.

• A single computer can pollute as much as 50,000 gallons of water.

• Old equipment should be donated to people who may have use for it, such as charities, or disposed of properly.