Greenhouse gases, or GHGs, are a significant concern among environmentally aware consumers. To address this, companies are scrambling to reduce their carbon footprint with such tools ranging from carbon removal projects to energy-efficient rugged mini PCs. Businesses have also placed emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) on the fast track to meeting these green goals and objectives.
What is the Carbon Footprint for Businesses?
Strictly, a business's carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide it releases into the air during typical business activities. Because other gases, like carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons, are also released, they have been included in a business's carbon footprint and referred to as GHG footprint.
According to the EPA, the US industrial sector contributed 30 percent of total GHG emissions in 2022. That puts it ahead of transportation, which is usually considered the number one source of GHG. Electrical usage by buildings for heating, ventilation, computer use, etc., as well as industrial machinery, were some of the significant factors that led to this switch.
At the time of this writing, Residential & Commercial is number one in total GHG per sector, followed by the Industry and Transportation sectors.
Reducing Your Business's Carbon Footprint
Businesses looking to reduce their carbon footprint must determine their emission activities as their first step.
What practices or activities is the company currently engaged in that result in GHG? These are called direct emissions; an example would be the release of refrigerant from an AC unit.
What business activities involving other businesses or entities also release GHGs? These are indirect emissions. Employees driving their gas-powered vehicles to and from work are an example. The same goes for electricity drawn from a coal-burning power plant, and trees felled to provide paper for the company printer.
Businesses must consider both forms of emissions to determine their carbon footprint. Resources from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the World Resources Institute, the EPA, and the Nature Conservancy are readily available to make such calculations. They can be paired with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) software to develop metrics to measure, monitor, and manage both kinds of carbon emissions.
So, what can businesses do once they've determined their emission activities? Depending on the above findings, they can:
Go paperless: Paper and paper products emit large amounts of GHG, from the fuel used by the lumber industry to the production of the paper itself. Industries like healthcare can reduce paper use and consequently can lower their GHG by moving away from fax machines to electronic medical records,
Channel Waste Heat: Certain industries, like steel manufacturing, generate large amounts of heat, which is wasted as it's absorbed by the surroundings or radiated into the air. Waste heat recovery systems repurpose wasted heat, such as from an industrial boiler. The result is less use of fuel like coal or electricity, which lowers the plant's carbon footprint.
Invest in Green Computing: According to the EPA study mentioned earlier, the industrial sector saw emissions rise partially due to the increased need to power office computers and other electronics. Businesses can lower their carbon footprint by following green computing strategies like purchasing more energy-efficient rugged industrial tablets.
AI's Controversial Role in Carbon Footprint Reduction
Artificial intelligence is being hailed as a game changer in reducing carbon emissions. With AI, companies can:
- Automatically track carbon footprint from activities ranging from using corporate jets to stocking the warehouse.
- Predict carbon emissions (and reduce them) by analyzing historical data and patterns.
- Identify opportunities to reduce waste on product usage and customer behavior.
However, processing all that data costs considerable energy, leading to higher emissions. Google reported in its 2024 emissions report that it saw a 13 percent increase in business emissions last year and a whopping nearly 50 percent rise back in 2019. In both cases, the company points to the rapid advancements in—and demand for—artificial intelligence as the cause. Businesses looking to use AI in their carbon reduction efforts must find the right balance to be effective.
Reduce Your Business's Carbon Footprint with Cybernet
Environmental issues like greenhouse gases are essential concerns to today's consumers. To address these issues, businesses look to reduce their carbon footprint through means like going paperless. Artificial intelligence is rapidly making inroads among companies in their reduction effort, but its high power consumption has businesses proceeding cautiously.
Contact the team at Cybernet Manufacturing if your company wants to find out how computers can help reduce its carbon footprint. Green computing requires computers to be built from the ground up to be sustainable, something only an Original Equipment and Design Manufacturer can do. Our team members will happily cover the remarkable features that make our PCs fit the bill, from fanless cooling to Power over Ethernet (in select models).
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