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Carbon footprinting of electronic products

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  • Vasan, Arvind
  • Sood, Bhanu
  • Pecht, Michael

Abstract

In order to mitigate the effects of global warming, companies are being compelled by governments, investors, and customers to control their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Similar to the European Union’s legislation on the airline industry, legislation is expected to require the electronics industry to assess their product’s carbon footprint before sale or use, as the electronics industry’s contribution to global GHG emissions is comparable to the airline industry’s contribution. Thus, it is necessary for members of the electronics industry to assess their current GHG emission rates and identify methods to reduce environmental impacts. Organizations use Carbon Footprint (CF) analysis methods to identify and quantify the GHG emissions associated with the life cycle stages of their product or services. This paper discusses the prevailing methods used by organizations to estimate the CF of their electronics products and identifies the challenges faced by the electronics industry when adopting these methods in an environment of decreasing product development cycles with complex and diffuse supply chains. We find that, as a result of the inconsistencies arising from the system boundary selection methods and databases, the use of outdated LCA approaches, and the lack of supplier’s emissions-related data, the CFs of electronic products are typically underestimated. To address these challenges, we present a comprehensive approach to the carbon footprinting of electronic products that involves the use of product-group-oriented standards, hybrid life cycle assessment techniques, and the integration of CF into products’ supply chains. A case study on commercial- and military-grade DC–DC buck converters demonstrating the recommended approach is presented.

Suggested Citation

  • Vasan, Arvind & Sood, Bhanu & Pecht, Michael, 2014. "Carbon footprinting of electronic products," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 636-648.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:136:y:2014:i:c:p:636-648
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.09.074
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    1. Giovanni Andrés Quintana-Pedraza & Sara Cristina Vieira-Agudelo & Nicolás Muñoz-Galeano, 2019. "A Cradle-to-Grave Multi-Pronged Methodology to Obtain the Carbon Footprint of Electro-Intensive Power Electronic Products," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-16, August.
    2. Anders S. G. Andrae & Mengjun Xia & Jianli Zhang & Xiaoming Tang, 2016. "Practical Eco-Design and Eco-Innovation of Consumer Electronics—the Case of Mobile Phones," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-19, February.
    3. Donateo, Teresa & Ficarella, Antonio & Spedicato, Luigi & Arista, Alessandro & Ferraro, Marco, 2017. "A new approach to calculating endurance in electric flight and comparing fuel cells and batteries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 807-819.
    4. Ut-Tha Veenarat, 2023. "Pioneering Eco-Cart: Carbon Reduction Solutions for Thai Online Shoppers," Management & Marketing, Sciendo, vol. 18(4), pages 515-536, December.
    5. Florentin Salomez & Hugo Helbling & Morgan Almanza & Ulrich Soupremanien & Guillaume Viné & Adrien Voldoire & Bruno Allard & Hamid Ben-Ahmed & Daniel Chatroux & Antoine Cizeron & Mylène Delhommais & M, 2024. "State of the Art of Research towards Sustainable Power Electronics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-23, March.
    6. Zhou, Kaile & Yang, Shanlin & Shao, Zhen, 2016. "Energy Internet: The business perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 212-222.
    7. Hou, Guofu & Sun, Honghang & Jiang, Ziying & Pan, Ziqiang & Wang, Yibo & Zhang, Xiaodan & Zhao, Ying & Yao, Qiang, 2016. "Life cycle assessment of grid-connected photovoltaic power generation from crystalline silicon solar modules in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 882-890.
    8. Anders S. G. Andrae & Tomas Edler, 2015. "On Global Electricity Usage of Communication Technology: Trends to 2030," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-41, April.

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