Console Games and Climate Change - Researchers Reveal Carbon Emissions of PlayStation®3 Game Distribution
September 2, 2014
http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/PressRelease/pressReleaseId-111832.html
http://www.is4ie.org/jie
A study conducted by Yale university disproved common belief that distribution by physical means, in this case of video games, has a greater carbon footprint than online distribution. In this study, researchers looked into the carbon emissions of gaming consoles, and came to unexpected findings, showing that more greenhouse gases were emitted through downloading a 8.8gb game (average size of a PS3 game downloaded in 2010) than purchasing it as a actual disc. This article also states that the greenhouse gas emissions are unlikely to go down in the area of large files such as video games, since although the internet and transfer of files through the internet will become more efficient, the size of video games will grow, due to constantly improving graphics and other aspects. The findings were part of Yale's Journal of Industrial Ecology which is a bimonthly peer reviewed journal which covers topics such as technological change, producer responsibility, and eco ecology.
Personally, I think that it is equally as intriguing and frightening how much this very short article says. To me, it is very shocking that even the things we thought were beneficial actually did more harm than their alternatives. This side of carbon emissions is very new to me, and I think amplifies how important it is for individuals to be aware of the impact little things they do in their everyday lives have on the environment. The most shocking part of this article to me is that it covers a topic I have never really considered, and also makes me think that perhaps we should reevaluate and rescale our approach towards striving to a cleaner and more eco friendly environment, since this article shows that we may not really know whether our "clean" alternatives provide any lowered carbon emissions. Although perhaps the difference in carbon footprint between physical purchases and downloads may not be very big, it still goes to show that we as a general public are quite unaware about certain aspects of our personal carbon footprints."The Internet will become more efficient with time", this excerpt from the article really made me feel very uneducated as to the overall effects of the internet and its current efficiency levels. Also, it perhaps is an indicator that more research should be put into carbon emissions through media and our online activities, since they obviously play such a big role in our daily lives. This article reinforces the idea that our approach towards lower carbon emissions should be small and step by step, and on a individual level. It also shows that being knowledgeable about the changes we make is very significant in being efficient about the impact we have.
This is a very interesting topic to read more on and allow scientists so condor doing more research on, because the second we think we are doing the planet a good thing by going "paperless" in office or at school, we realise that plastic and paper is probably more friendly than downloading documents of larger sizes. Though I don't see how the production and transport and packaging of the game would be more efficient than a quick download from the internet onto your computer... it's a very interesting article. :)
ReplyDeleteYou have written a very interesting Article about the Carbon Emissions made by Downloading video Games. I would have not expected this, as Plastic Casings could actually pollute the environment, But you have proved me wrong. On the other hand, would it now mean that as the games grew in size that there are even more Carbon Emissions now? Your post is quite good, yet it is somehow weird that a Current article provides us with information that it 4 Years old. Maybe it would have been interesting if you would have found how they did this tests. But in all it was a good post that covered a very different topic than about what you hear daily.
ReplyDeleteThis was very well written and extremely fascinating. I am still wondering how they collected this information and data in order to measure the carbon emissions. It is also impossible to grasp the fact that all the energy, waste products, electricity especially and plastics required to produce the packaging and game is still less than downloading a game.
ReplyDelete