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Considering the key issues involved in environmental-friendly disposal of end-of-life (EOL) computer, its supply chain should be designed to incorporate the key dimensions of reverse logistics. An important managerial decision-making activity undertaken by reverse logistics managers is selection of feasible projects that could be completed according to the resources available. The reverse logistics project selection is a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. While the experience and expertise of reverse logistics managers could work out for small sized projects, it might not be fruitful for multiple-criteria large sized reverse logistics in arriving at a proper decision related to selection of projects. The reverse logistics projects involve interdependencies among the criteria and the candidate reverse logistics projects. In this paper, a combination of analytical network process (ANP) and zero one goal programing (ZOGP) is used as solution methodologies to deal with the above problem. The ANP is used to determine the degree of interdependence among the criteria and candidate reverse logistics projects, while ZOGP permits the consideration of resource limitations and other constraints in arriving at the solution. The hybrid approach using ANP and ZOGP provides a realistic representation of the problem related to the selection of feasible reverse logistics for EOL computers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the widespread use of computer equipment, electromagnetic protection of processed data is still an issue. Structurally modified commercial equipment is used to protect devices against this phenomenon. The acquisition costs of such modified devices are enormous. However, the market offers information devices with very low susceptibility to electromagnetic infiltration. Safe fonts are a new solution in the protection of sensitive information against electromagnetic infiltration processes. The use of safe fonts not only increases resistance to electromagnetic eavesdropping but also makes it impossible. These devices are computer printers that use a slat with hundreds of LEDs arranged in several rows during the process of photoconductor exposure. The solution in the form of safe fonts is a universal method that protects process information against electromagnetic penetration. Safe fonts are effective not only for printers with slat LED. The solution can also be used for the protection of analog standard VGA, digital standard DVI, and printers with one diode and two diode laser systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental impacts of data centers that provide information and communication technologies (ICTs) services are strongly related to electricity generation. With the increasing use of ICT, many data centers are expected to be built, causing more absolute impacts on the environment. Given that electricity distribution networks are very complex and dynamic systems, an environmental evaluation of future data centers is uncertain. This study proposes a new approach to investigate the consequences of future data center deployment in Canada and optimize this deployment based on the Energy 2020 technoeconomic model in combination with life cycle assessment methodology. The method determines specific electricity sources that will power the future Canadian data centers and computes related environmental impacts based on several indicators. In case-study scenarios, the largest deployment of data centers leads to the smallest impact per megawatt of data centers for all of the environmental indicators. It is found that an increase in power demand by data centers would lead to a reduction in electricity exports to the United States, driving the United States to generate more electricity to meet its energy demand. Given that electricity generation in the United States is more polluting than in Canada, the deployment of data centers in Canada is indirectly linked to an increase in overall environmental impacts. However, though an optimal solution should be found to mitigate global greenhouse gas emissions, it is not clear whether the environmental burden related to U.S. electricity generation should be attributed to the Canadian data centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the occurrence of 8 polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners from homes (n = 20), offices (n = 20), air conditioners (n = 6), and computers (n = 6). High detection frequencies for most of the congeners were observed, indicating continued widespread use of Penta-, Octa- and Deca-BDE mixtures. The median concentrations of ∑PBDEs were 119 and 194 pg m −3 for home air and office air, respectively. Regarding dust, the median concentrations of ∑PBDEs were 239 and 437 ng g −1 for home and office dust, respectively. The ratios of the median concentrations of BDE-209 to ∑PBDEs were approximately 0.95 and 0.87 for home dust and office dust, respectively. The median concentrations of ∑PBDEs were 359 ng g −1 and 350 ng g −1 for dust on air conditioner filters and the back cabinet of the computer, respectively. The ratios of the median concentrations of BDE-209 to ∑PBDEs were approximately 0.58 and 0.46 for air conditioner and computer samples. Running air conditioners contributed to ΣPBDEs in office air through direct and indirect pathways. The daily intake of PBDEs was estimated to be 2630 pg (kg bw) −1 day −1 for toddlers in homes and 319 pg (kg bw) −1 day −1 for adults in homes and offices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recovery and recycling processes for the management of electronic wastes should be determined accurately. The processes applied to e-waste recycling are continually developing. These processes are applied using different methods, and thus, economic analysis is required in order to select the preferred choice. In particular, the aqua regia process for the recycling of gold can usually be implemented efficiently. In our study, the inputs and outcomes of the physical separation and chemical reactions that are conducted with the aqua regia for CPU, board, and connectors in the real scale plant were discussed. The rent, equipment, and labor costs, as an expense, have mainly been determined in the economic analysis of the aqua regia, and $16.55 is calculated as kg waste per month. However, the benefits obtained from CPU, board, and connectors were determined as $274, $104, and $94 for kg waste per month, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on the concept of algorithmically embodied emissions, which refers to the contribution of algorithmic information systems to environmental destruction. It argues that such emissions are brought about by commercial information systems and result from societal meaning-making processes, influencing climate change. It reflects on the role of commercial search engines, social media, and recommender systems and their impact on environmental sustainability.

The paper considers the level of the extremely low frequency magnetic field produced by the portable computers. Accordingly, the magnetic field characterized with the low frequencies up to 300 Hz has been measured. The experiment consists of testing 10 different portable computers in normal operating condition and under heavy load. The measurement of the magnetic field is performed in the laptop neighborhood. The measured data are presented and discussed. They are compared with the magnetic field safe limit values suggested by MPR II, TCO, ICNIRP, the SMEMSP (Serbian Ministry of Environment, Mining and Spatial Planning), and those given in the literature. It is shown that some of the portable computers radiate a very strong magnetic field. Hence, they should be used with caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The disposal of CRT monitors increases each year, generating millions of tons of waste containing various types of materials. The glass present in CRT tubes displayed about 20%-25% of lead oxide. If improperly disposed of, this glass can be leached directly in nature or may cause environmental contamination, especially with lead. Because of this leaching possibility, this waste is classified as Class I solid waste, according to the NBR 10004. Thermal processing of these glass tubes was seen as an alternative to remove lead from the glass matrix. Parameters such as reaction time, percentage of reducing agent, the reaction temperature, and atmospheric environment of the system were analyzed in this work. It was concluded that it is possible to remove the lead from the glass matrix by thermal processing. The removal of 92% of the lead from the glass was obtained at 800°C, a vacuum of 1.3 kPa, with 5% carbon as a reducing agent, and 18 hours of thermal processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The real workload on a large scale computer system varies from time to time. Often it has many idle nodes during most operation time. These idle nodes consume energy, but do nothing useful. To save the huge amount of energy wasted by such active idle nodes, most modern compute nodes are equipped with multiple level dynamic sleep mechanisms to reduce power consumption. However, awaking sleeping nodes takes time. The deeper a node sleeps, the less energy it consumes, but the longer wakeup latency. How to balance between the systems energy consumption and the response time is a key problem in the power management of large scale systems. This paper proposes a self-adaptive approach to manage the sleep states of idle nodes to achieve low energy consumption and high performance at the same time. The proposed approach has two distinctive features. First, idle nodes are hierarchical organised. In this model, idle nodes are classified into several groups according to their sleep states. Each group contains nodes of same level of sleep depth and forms a reserve pool of a certain readiness level. When a resource is requested, nodes in the pool of highest level of readiness are preferentially allocated. When the nodes in the pool of the highest readiness level are not sufficient, the nodes in the pool(s) of next level(s) of readiness are allocated. After each allocation and reclaim of nodes, the numbers of nodes in each level of pools are adjusted by changing the sleep depth of the nodes up and down. Thus, the reserve pools can be maintained for high performance requirement. When resources are released from applications, they are placed back to reserve pools and put into different levels of sleep states to save energy. Second, the sizes of reservation pools are self-adaptive. Obviously, a key factor that affects the effectiveness of the idle node management is the sizes of the reserve pools. Fixed sizes of reserve pools would not be effective due to the time varying nature of workload on large scale systems. The proposed approach employs a self-adaptive mechanism in which the sizes of reserve pools are dynamically adjusted during the execution of the system according to how well the research pools meet the need of computation resources. Our experiments demonstrated that our approach can significantly improve energy efficiency in large scale systems without significant scarification of performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:TV viewing and computer use is associated with childhood overweight, but it remains unclear as to how these behaviours could best be targeted. The aim of this study was to determine to what extent the association between TV viewing, computer use and overweight is explained by other determinants of overweight, to find determinants of TV viewing and computer use in the home environment and to investigate competing activities.Method:A cross-sectional study was carried out among 4072 children aged 4-13 years in the city of Zwolle, the Netherlands. Data collection consisted of measured height, weight and waist circumference, and a parental questionnaire on socio-demographic characteristics, child's nutrition, physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour. Associations were studied with logistic regression analyses, for older and younger children, boys and girls separately.Results:The odds ratio (OR) of being overweight was 1.70 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.07-2.72) for viewing TV >1.5 h among 4- to 8-year-old children adjusted for all potential confounders. Computer use was not significantly associated with overweight. Determinants of TV viewing were as follows: having >2 TVs in the household (OR: 2.38; 95% CI: 1.66-3.41), a TV in the child's bedroom and not having rules on TV viewing. TV viewing and computer use were both associated with shorter sleep duration and not with less PA.Conclusion:Association between TV viewing and overweight is not explained by socio-demographic variables, drinking sugared drinks and eating snacks. Factors in the home environment influence children's TV viewing. Parents have a central role as they determine the number of TVs, rules and also their children's bedtime. Therefore, interventions to reduce screen time should support parents in making home environmental changes, especially when the children are young. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of electric and electronic equipment (EEE) owned by households has multiplied in the recent decade. We investigate the climate implications of the purchase, use and disposal of EEE by Norwegian households in 2008. While traditionally, large electric appliances such as washing machines, dryers, refrigerators and freezers have been responsible for most of the electricity use in households apart from heating and hot water, our results indicate that computers, TV sets and other electronic equipment are of comparable importance in terms of life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. For this electronic equipment, the GHG emissions caused by manufacturing are equal to or larger than those caused by their electricity use in operation. The production of EEE purchased in 2008 caused on average 1.2 t CO2e (… × 2) per household. The electricity consumption for the use of EEE in 2008 caused between 0.15 and 1.7 t per household, assuming a Norwegian and an EU electricity mix, respectively. Telecoms networks and TV content caused between 0.13 and 0.3 t per household. The purchase rate of electronic products indicates that these products are replaced or down-cycled much more frequently than necessary based on their technical life span. To reduce the carbon footprint of EEE in Norwegian households, the rate of acquisition of new TVs and PCs needs to be reduced and the energy consumption in the production of these products needs to be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two Electromagnetic Compatibility tests (radiated emissions and susceptibility) were undertaken on a personal computer. The disturbance test allowed us to determine the frequencies at which the radiated emission levels exceeded the limits established by the CISPR 22 standard. The susceptibility of the computer was characterized by taking into account the performance criteria given by the CISPR 24 standard. All the measurement procedures and results are presented in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic waste (e-waste) has emerged as a new policy priority around the world. Motivations to address e-waste include rapidly growing waste streams, concern over the environmental fate of heavy metals and other substances in e-waste, and impacts of informal recycling in developing countries. Policy responses to global e-waste focus on banning international trade in end-of-life electronics, the premise being that e-waste is mainly generated in the developed world and then exported to the developing world. Sales of electronics have, however, been growing rapidly in developing nations, raising the question of whether informal recycling in developing countries driven by international trade or domestic generation. This paper addresses this question by forecasting the global generation of obsolete personal computers (PCs) using the logistic model and material flow analysis. Results show that the volume of obsolete PCs generated in developing regions will exceed that of developed regions by 2016-2018. By 2030, the obsolete PCs from developing regions will reach 400-700 million units, far more than from developed regions at 200-300 million units. Future policies to mitigate the impacts of informal recycling should address the domestic situation in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the management of electronic waste, or e-waste, in Guiyu, China and the U.S. supply link revealed in a November 2008 episode of the "60 Minutes" television program. The article discusses the socioeconomic history of the region, health risks presented by the e-waste trade in Guiyu, and effects on migrant labor. Other e-waste management sites that exist outside Guiyu are mentioned. Evolving Chinese environmental policies designed to address e-waste and associated health effects also are discussed.

The article investigates whether an electronic book (e-book) reading machine is more environmentally friendly than paper books and other paper reading materials. Figures concerning the number of trees that are required to support the book trade are cited. The environmental benefits of reduced paper use are examined. Analysis of the manufacture and life cycle of an e-book revealed that paper texts created 4 times the greenhouse gas emissions and required more water and raw materials to produce.

♦ Describes the environmental harm caused by paper consumption and printing processes ♦ Provides strategies for selecting environmentally responsible printers, paper, and inks, as well as reducing or eliminating paper consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on how Information Technology (IT) industry can help create a more sustainable environment by adopting green IT practices or ecology friendly operations. It is mentioned that advances and adoption of IT in various fields including enterprise, government, and societies have negative effect in the environment if not mitigated. Computers as well as supercomputers consume huge amounts of electricity, IT hardware poses environmental risk both during its production and disposal. Green IT benefits the environment by lessening greenhouse gas emission as a result of lower electric consumption, using less harmful materials, and encouraging reuse and recycling.

The article offers information on how power and cooling problems in supercomputing have evolved from a secondary issues to a primary design concern. It is mentioned that business and enterprise industries now refer to high-end computing (HEC), employing HEC for large-scale data center computing. Japanese supercomputers shattered U.S. domination of HEC. Institutions however are now particularly sensitive to energy efficiency and cut on power consumption as cooling operation is projected to rise. Supercomputers performs an unparalleled level of computational horsepower for solving problems concerning a wide spectrum of field, which consumes huge power energy.

The article focuses on energy efficiency and computing. Saving energy is a huge issue for servers and data center operations, with a particular focus on reducing energy costs. Laptop computers only require high energy efficiency during usage, but during sleep or standby mode they consume little to no energy. Included is a chart that shows the central processing unit (CPU) utilization of more than 5,000 servers during a six-month period. Spreading data across several CPU improves data availability because if a crash occurs it is less likely that data will be lost. Topics include energy efficiency at varying power levels, and the push for more energy-efficient computers.

Focuses on the environmental impact of obsolete computers and other kinds of electronic junk in the U.S. Toxic contents of obsolete computers and electronic junk; Policy of the government on electronic waste; Absence of definitive standards for recyclers.

Reports on the threat to the environment posed by computers and related electronic waste. Overview of key facts on the issue; Details of an initial system of solutions; Range of policy options in implementing the solution possibilities.

Focuses on `green' computer design, a process taken by manufacturers in the computer industry to help reduce environmental concerns. Environmental concerns caused by manufacturing of computers; Issues addressed by green computer design; How power consumption by computers helped reduce environmental problems; Features of computers suggested by Walt Rosenberg, Compaq's director of environmental affairs. INSET: Self-dismantling computer.

The article focuses on electronic waste (e-waste) and highlights its health and environmental impact. It informs that by the year 2020 e-waste from old computers will increase between 200 percent and 500 percent in South Africa and China and reports that discarded mobile phones will be approximately 7 and 18 times higher in China and India than in 2007 levels. It also highlights that if the problem of e-waste is not tackled in time it will pose serious health threat.

The article focuses on the implications of Internet use and the hardware comprised in it. It cites Moore's Law, developed by chemist Gordon E. Moore, which states that the development of integrated computer circuitry will advance every two year at minimal cost. It says that the law also suggests the increase in energy use, thus more heat problems. It mentions various aspects of the electric devices, such as having toxic substances, plans of obsolescence and its share of greenhouse gases.

This article discusses the role of computers in the consumption of energy that contributes to the global load of pollution. Estimates regarding the level of energy consumption by server farms and data centers in the U.S. are analysed in terms of their contribution to global warming. Issues relating to the environmental impact of computer parts and peripherals are also noted. The development of Energy Star regulations for servers developed in the U.S. is discussed. Research by the television program "60 Minutes" into pollution resulting from the disposal of electronic products is also addressed.

The article offers information on how to mitigate the negative effect of Information Technology (IT) on the environment. It is mentioned the IT can change its energy use practices into a more energy efficient, and help other industries become environmental friendly as well. Computers consume huge amounts of electricity which results to an increase on greenhouse gas emission, IT hardware poses environmental risk both during its production and disposal. IT can conserve energy by adopting Green methods such as the use of closely coupled cooling systems, and the use of distributed sensors to control and monitor energy consumption.