Small business, big footprint: the digital carbon footprint dilemma in small and medium-sized enterprises
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: A major contributor to climate change is the emissions from Information and Communication Technology (ICT) devices and digitalisation. Energy use, heat production, and the operation of assets all contribute to the production of harmful emissions. However, indirect emissions, such as production and disposal, also play a role. We rely mainly on the output of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper focuses on the emissions of SMEs. Is it certain that cloud services (remote data storage and management) leave a much smaller carbon footprint than ICT devices for own use? These two solutions lead to a paradox: using more modern devices to produce less emissions requires more energy and generates more heat. This article analyses how to resolve this paradox for SMEs.
Authors: Ágnes Sándor, Ákos Gubán
Institution: Budapest University of Economics and Business
Language: English
Topic: Green IT and Sustainability
Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4403172535