About equipment (hardware)
The list of equipment will be completed over time as new reliable data becomes available.
The impact of generic equipment (Laptop other, Desktop other, etc.) is an average made from the aggregation of data from various equipment or directly from existing averages in the above mentioned sources.
The impact values cover both the manufacturing phase and the use phase over the product lifetime, expressed in kg CO₂ eq. per year of use.
Sources: ADEME — La face cachée du numérique, ENERGY STAR, NUTS online tool.
About emails
Email carbon footprint is particularly sensitive because it is very difficult to obtain exact measurements of energy consumption. Many life cycle scenarios would need to be observed to ensure accuracy (e.g. an email with a 1.5 MB attachment sent to 3 recipients, 1 email without attachment sent to 10 recipients, etc.).
The measure therefore remains an approximation of potential consumption and cannot account with certainty for the full complexity of situations.
| Type | Value used (g CO₂ eq.) |
|---|---|
| Email without attachment | 4 g CO₂ eq. |
| Email with attachment | 35 g CO₂ eq. |
Source: ADEME — La face cachée du numérique.
About video conferencing
Free and open data are still relatively unavailable for video conferencing tools. The calculator is based on data published by Greenspector (2021), covering 12 major platforms.
The figure used remains an approximation that will need to be refined over time as new data becomes available.
Sources:
About cloud storage
The carbon footprint associated with data manipulation in the cloud is subject to studies with disparate results. We have chosen to use the figures from the Green Cloud Computing study (2021) based on the work of Umweltbundesamt (the German federal environment agency), which provides a rational approach to the subject and is used as a reference by DINUM.
| Indicator | Value used |
|---|---|
| Cloud storage | 209.5 g CO₂ eq. / GB / year |
This is a single indicator regardless of the cloud solution used.
About web browsing
ADEME data allows us to estimate the energy cost of browsing the Internet. This figure, updated in the second half of 2022 by ADEME, has enabled us to readjust the calculation proposed by our calculator to better estimate the carbon cost of one hour of Internet browsing.
| Activity | Value used |
|---|---|
| Web browsing | 10 g CO₂ eq. / hour |
Source: nosgestesclimat.fr — Internet carbon footprint documentation.
About business travel
Business travel emissions are calculated per kilometre travelled, based on ADEME emission factors for France and European averages.
| Mode of transport | Value used (kg CO₂ eq. / km) |
|---|---|
| Car (average) | 0.193 kg CO₂ eq. / km |
| Train | 0.00173 kg CO₂ eq. / km |
| Plane (short/medium haul) | 0.186 kg CO₂ eq. / km |
| Bike / Walking | 0 kg CO₂ eq. / km |
Sources: ADEME, My CO₂ Converter.
Energy mix by country
The energy mix of the country selected by the user is used to calculate the carbon impact of device usage (electricity consumption). Values are expressed in kg CO₂ eq. per kWh.
| Country | kg CO₂ eq. / kWh |
|---|---|
| Switzerland | 0.027 |
| France | 0.052 |
| Luxembourg | 0.089 |
| Austria | 0.158 |
| Spain | 0.207 |
| Belgium | 0.220 |
| Italy | 0.233 |
| Netherlands | 0.284 |
| Germany | 0.420 |
About additional information
Additional information, such as your country of residence, requested as part of your responses is intended to refine the consolidated, anonymous figures but is in no way a means of collecting personal data on respondents.
Principle of continuous improvement
INR is committed to continuous improvement of the Sustainable IT calculator and to regularly updating the indicators based on public, free and open studies that improve the accuracy of the results provided.
INR welcomes your feedback and suggestions to improve the tool. You can contact us at: myimpact [@] isit-europe.org