My IT Carbon Footprint

Kirk W. Cameron, an associate professor at Virginia Technology, measured his own IT carbon footprint by monitoring the power and time usage of the computer systems and the amount of time for which the system is used. He measured the carbon footprint by preparing a series of direct power measurements using a midrange multimeter and taking several measurements and performed numerous baseline tests against more accurate meters. He calculated his own IT carbon footprint by measuring the power consumption of hundreds of embedded consumer electronics systems that includes coffee maker, his car, TV and comparing with the use of multiple systems such as two lap tops, two desktop systems, DVR and, iPhone. The study showed that a single data point along the spectrum of IT usage is believed to be a reasonable approximation of average for computer practitioners. The IT carbon footprint can be calculated by extrapolating from this data and the use of additional systems.