FACTS

It is estimated that there are 3.5 billion smartphones, 1 billion computers, 5 billion to 7 billion other connected devices and 45 billion servers worldwide. The manufacture of a computer requires 240 kg of fossil fuels, 22 kg of chemicals, 1.5 t of water and numerous precious (gold and platinum) or rare earth minerals (tantalum, lanthanum, neodymium, yttrium) as well as those which are dangerous for the environment (lead, bromine, arsenic, chlorine, mercury and cadmium).

FACTS

Globally, the average number of devices and connections per capita will grow from 2.4 in 2017 to 3.6 by 2023. The average per capita numbers for the U.S. and Canada are 13.6 and 11, respectively.

FACTS

The contribution of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions could grow from roughly 1.6% in 2007 to over 14% of the 2016-level worldwide GHG emissions by 2040.⁴ In comparison, the combined pulp, paper and print sector is one of the lowest industrial emitters at 0.8% of the world’s GHG emissions.

FACTS

Worldwide in 2019, the number of emails sent and received per day totaled over 293 billion. With each email estimated to release .000001 metric tons of C02, total CO2 generated by emails globally is about 107 million metric tons of CO2 per year⁷ or the amount of CO2 produced annually by 23 million cars.