March 12, 2010 –
Greening Through IT
will be released next month.
CALIT2 academic affiliate Bill Tomlinson, and his new book, “Greening through IT: Information Technology for Environmental Sustainability,” were featured this week on “Tech Therapy,” a popular podcast produced by the Chronicle for Higher Education.
The book, published by MIT Press and scheduled for release next month, discusses ways in which information technology can help tackle the enormous and wide-ranging environmental problems that confront humankind.
In the interview, which aired March 10, Tomlinson talked with Chronicle reporter Scott Carlson and technology consultant Warren Arbogast about the effects of technology – the positives and the negatives – on the environment.
The effects of e-waste and computer-related energy usage are significant, he said. More than four billion people worldwide use mobile phones, which, in the U.S., we replace approximately every 18 months, leaving behind mountains of hazardous e-waste.
Energy usage related to information technology is also troubling. Tomlinson said the IT sector is responsible for 2 to 2-1/2 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, approximately on par with the entire airline industry, and that footprint is expected to become a bigger and bigger part of the world’s carbon footprint.
On the positive side, however, he said, information technology wields the power to change the world for the better. It can help humanity better understand issues of sustainability, encourage individuals to change their habits and assist large institutions in working towards more sustainability in their day-to-day systems.
“Most people are interested in living more sustainably if they have a mechanism by which to do so,” Tomlinson said.
— Anna Lynn Spitzer
