Environmental Impacts of Digital Infrastructures and Digital Services: CO2, Resource Consumption, Substances of Concern and More

In recent years, many research studies on assessing the environmental impacts related to digital infrastructures and digital services have been conducted. The scope of the investigation has been expanded from concrete end-user ICT (Information and Communication Technology) equipment and data centers to more abstract and complex systems like digital services including data transmission networks. Digital services have different environmental impacts beyond energy consumption and the associated greenhouse gas emissions. Besides energy consumption and GWP, this paper describes additional indicators that can be used to measure the impacts of digital services, namely abiotic resources, water usage, electronic waste and hazardous substances. Examples for the application of some of these indicators are given based on the analysis of cloud services with a focus on data center. Our approach combines midpoint indicators applied in LCAs with additional information on problematic substances from other sources. It covers important parts of the life cycle of digital services, namely the manufacturing and the use phase. The volume of electronic waste will also be evaluated. The analysis is based on a distinction between basic resources for computing, storing and transferring information. It includes and assesses information on the use of hazardous substances in the manufacture of hardware and the maintenance of data centers as well as information on the quantities of such substances that are present in hardware components. Substances of very high concern must be reported in accordance with the European Chemicals Regulation (REACH). This should support the transition to a more circular economy with a lower quantity of problematic substances in waste streams. One of the indicators presented here focuses on these substances and their use in digital services. The approach presented here can serve as a guide for environmental impact studies of digital services, for suitable alternative allocation principles and as a starting point for the evaluation of digital services in relation to chemicals.