“Given the increased interest in product carbon footprints, we need to continue to question the accuracy of carbon footprint techniques, especially for complex information technology products,” said Steven Weber, who conducted a study recently released from Carnegie Mellon University.
“At this point, carbon footprint estimation methodologies are not accurate enough to warrant putting footprint labels on most products.”
The study found that answering the question of the impact of a product on overall carbon emissions is not as simple as it seems.
According to Mr. Weber, an adjunct professor at the university’s department of civil and environmental engineering, a cache of variables – in both the production and use phases – can alter the accuracy of carbon footprint labeling especially when it comes to electronic devices.
The use of carbon foot printing to determine the life cycle emissions of a product has recently come to fore with big companies attempting to reduce their products’ carbon footprints in order the meet global or national policies or to simply attract a portion of the growing “green” consumer market.
For the study, the team studied a common I.B.M. computer server and found that the use phase of the server accounted for an estimated 94 percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions associated with the product.
Several variables of the use phase can lead to great uncertainty in getting an accurate picture of its carbon footprint. This includes the energy mix in its place of use. It is also almost impossible for a manufacturer to know with certainty how and for how long the server would be in use.
Some of the areas of uncertainty or variability in the production phase are the different supply chains that go to making a server and the logistics involved in getting a server to its destination.
While more variables may have to be considered during the production phase, there at least a company can look at and analyze their supply chains with some degree of accuracy.
The overall findings imply that it is practically impossible to currently get an accurate blanket statement on a product line’s carbon footprint as individual products would be subject to too many different conditions.
