Personal Computer Life Cycle Assessment Study: The Case of Western Australia

The alarming growth of the information and communication technology (ICT) during the last decade has increased the awareness of environmental impacts associated with the use of personal computers (PC).Energy and materials use and e-waste disposal during the life cycle of ICT products need to be asse...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sirait, Marudut, Biswas, Wahidul, Boswell, Brian
Other Authors: Günther Seliger
Format: Conference Paper
Published: Berlin Institute of Technology, Berlin, Germany and Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/5389
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author Sirait, Marudut
Biswas, Wahidul
Boswell, Brian
author2 Günther Seliger
author_facet Günther Seliger
Sirait, Marudut
Biswas, Wahidul
Boswell, Brian
author_sort Sirait, Marudut
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The alarming growth of the information and communication technology (ICT) during the last decade has increased the awareness of environmental impacts associated with the use of personal computers (PC).Energy and materials use and e-waste disposal during the life cycle of ICT products need to be assessed in order to minimize the environmental impacts of ICT devices, particularly personal computer. This research utilizes a life cycle assessment (LCA) tool to identify the process (or processes) or “hotspot(s)” requiring mitigation strategies. The LCA of the PC’s takes into account all the stages from raw material extraction and production, manufacturing, transportation and use to disposal (cradle to grave). A desktop computer has been disassembled to develop a detailed life cycle inventory to carry out a LCA analysis. The LCA is constructed by SimaPro software version 7.3 and express with greenhouse gas and demand energy life cycle assessment method. The LCA shows that the use and manufacturing stages is the largest contributor to embodied energy and carbon footprint. In the manufacturing stage, LCA have been identified that the production of monitor is the greatest significantly in producing carbon footprint and embodied energy.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T06:06:57Z
format Conference Paper
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T06:06:57Z
publishDate 2012
publisher Berlin Institute of Technology, Berlin, Germany and Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-53892023-02-02T07:57:36Z Personal Computer Life Cycle Assessment Study: The Case of Western Australia Sirait, Marudut Biswas, Wahidul Boswell, Brian Günther Seliger S. Engin Kiliç personal computer life cycle assessment environmental impacts The alarming growth of the information and communication technology (ICT) during the last decade has increased the awareness of environmental impacts associated with the use of personal computers (PC).Energy and materials use and e-waste disposal during the life cycle of ICT products need to be assessed in order to minimize the environmental impacts of ICT devices, particularly personal computer. This research utilizes a life cycle assessment (LCA) tool to identify the process (or processes) or “hotspot(s)” requiring mitigation strategies. The LCA of the PC’s takes into account all the stages from raw material extraction and production, manufacturing, transportation and use to disposal (cradle to grave). A desktop computer has been disassembled to develop a detailed life cycle inventory to carry out a LCA analysis. The LCA is constructed by SimaPro software version 7.3 and express with greenhouse gas and demand energy life cycle assessment method. The LCA shows that the use and manufacturing stages is the largest contributor to embodied energy and carbon footprint. In the manufacturing stage, LCA have been identified that the production of monitor is the greatest significantly in producing carbon footprint and embodied energy. 2012 Conference Paper http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/5389 Berlin Institute of Technology, Berlin, Germany and Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey fulltext
spellingShingle personal computer
life cycle assessment
environmental impacts
Sirait, Marudut
Biswas, Wahidul
Boswell, Brian
Personal Computer Life Cycle Assessment Study: The Case of Western Australia
title Personal Computer Life Cycle Assessment Study: The Case of Western Australia
title_full Personal Computer Life Cycle Assessment Study: The Case of Western Australia
title_fullStr Personal Computer Life Cycle Assessment Study: The Case of Western Australia
title_full_unstemmed Personal Computer Life Cycle Assessment Study: The Case of Western Australia
title_short Personal Computer Life Cycle Assessment Study: The Case of Western Australia
title_sort personal computer life cycle assessment study: the case of western australia
topic personal computer
life cycle assessment
environmental impacts
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/5389