An environmental assessment of computing services in higher education [Online]

          @misc{ scivideos_oai:cds.cern.ch:3025596,
            doi = {},
            url = {https://videos.cern.ch/record/3025596},
            author = {},
            keywords = {},
            language = {en},
            title = {An environmental assessment of computing services in higher education [Online]},
            publisher = {},
            year = {2026},
            month = {may},
            note = {oai:cds.cern.ch:3025596 see, \url{https://scivideos.org/cern-cds/3025596}}
          }
          

Abstract

Scientific progress increasingly depends on powerful computing infrastructure, yet its environmental impacts across the full life cycle are often overlooked. This study evaluates the energy and resource efficiency of computing hardware and software within the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE) at the University of Manchester, informing the university's sustainability targets, including Net Zero by 2050. Using life cycle assessment (LCA), hardware audits, and software energy profiling, the study compares three computing setups: desktop computers, laptops, and high-throughput computing cluster nodes. System boundaries cover component production and operational use across 15-year scenarios. Specialised compute nodes dominate most impact categories, particularly those driven by manufacturing. Across nearly all indicators, embodied impacts exceed operational electricity use, highlighting the growing significance of manufacturing burdens despite grid decarbonisation. Scenario analyses demonstrate that replacement strategies strongly influence outcomes, underlining the importance of demand management and procurement policies in reducing academic computing's environmental footprint.

00:00:00 Slide 1
00:00:37 Slide 2
00:01:13 Slide 3
00:02:18 Slide 4
00:03:22 Slide 5
00:04:47 Slide 6
00:06:06 Slide 7
00:07:09 Slide 8
00:08:05 Slide 9
00:08:24 Slide 10
00:09:02 Slide 11
00:09:49 Slide 12
00:11:56 Slide 13
00:13:23 Slide 14
00:15:05 Slide 15
00:16:02 Slide 16
00:17:19 Slide 17
00:18:35 Slide 18
00:19:56 Slide 19
00:20:51 Slide 20
00:21:15 Slide 21
00:21:27 Slide 22
00:23:03 Slide 23
00:23:22 Slide 24
00:23:35 Slide 25
00:24:12 Slide 26
00:25:54 Slide 27
00:26:47 Slide 28
00:26:58 Slide 29
00:27:51 Slide 30