Personal computers have made life convenient in many ways, but what about their impacts on the environment due to production, use and disposal? Manufacturing computers requires prodigious quantities of fossil fuels, toxic chemicals and water. Rapid improvements in performance mean we often buy a new machine every 1-3 years, which adds up to mountains of waste computers. How should societies respond to manage these environmental impacts? This volume addresses the environmental impacts and management of computers through a set of analyses on issues ranging from environmental assessment, technologies for recycling, consumer behaviour, strategies of computer manufacturing firms, and government policies. One conclusion is that extending the lifespan of computers (e.g. through reselling) is an environmentally and economically effective strategy that deserves more attention from governments, firms and the general public.

The sociology of hazardous waste, risk, and disasters is a relatively new discipline. This book focuses on hazardous and toxic wastes releases, industrial toxic disasters, contamination of communities and the environment, and the subsequent adverse health effects among exposed populations

Computers in Earth and Environmental Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technologies in Hazards and Risk Management addresses the need for a comprehensive book that focuses on multi-hazard assessments, natural and manmade hazards, and risk management using new methods and technologies that employ GIS, artificial intelligence, spatial modeling, machine learning tools and meta-heuristic techniques. The book is clearly organized into four parts that cover natural hazards, environmental hazards, advanced tools and technologies in risk management, and future challenges in computer applications to hazards and risk management. Researchers and professionals in Earth and Environmental Science who require the latest technologies and advances in hazards, remote sensing, geosciences, spatial modeling and machine learning will find this book to be an invaluable source of information on the latest tools and technologies available. Covers advanced tools and technologies in risk management of hazards in both the Earth and Environmental Sciences Details the benefits and applications of various technologies to assist researchers in choosing the most appropriate techniques for purpose Expansively covers specific future challenges in the use of computers in Earth and Environmental Science Includes case studies that detail the applications of the discussed technologies down to individual hazards

How do computers affect management? What are the implications of these effects for management policy and understanding? These are the questions that this book seeks to answer. It is based on a three-year study that traced the development and implementation of different types of computer applications in a number of companies in order to discover how the managers were affected.The research showed that most of the effects of the computer on management are not inevitable ones, but depend upon the use that management makes of the possibilities provided by the new system and of the stimulus, arising from its development, to review their assumptions and methods. This finding places the computer in perspective as a management tool. Its effective use is shown to depend primarily upon managers' understanding of the problems of their business and upon their willingness to try, and to use, new methods of tackling some of them.The book starts by describing the different sources of effects on management from the computer. It gives the case histories of the experience of five companies in developing different types of computer applications. These include the computerization of branch banking, production planning and control, and the development of a large investment-planning model. Comparisons are made with the experience of five other companies. One chapter discusses the nature of the relations between computer specialists and user managers, the reasons for difficulties between them, and what can be done to reduce them. Another chapter describes what kind of understanding managers need for different types of computer applications. The last chapter summarizes the management implications of the study.

Information technology is a powerful tool for meeting environmental objectives and promoting sustainable development. This collection of papers by leaders in industry, government, and academia explores how information technology can improve environmental performance by individual firms, collaborations among firms, and collaborations among firms, government agencies, and academia. Information systems can also be used by nonprofit organizations and the government to inform the public about broad environmental issues and environmental conditions in their neighborhoods. Several papers address the challenges to information management posed by the explosive increase in information and knowledge about environmental issues and potential solutions, including determining what information is environmentally relevant and how it can be used in decision making. In addition, case studies are described and show how industry is using information systems to ensure sustainable development and meet environmental standards. The book also includes examples from the public sector showing how governments use information knowledge systems to disseminate "best practices" beyond big firms to small businesses, and from the world of the Internet showing how knowledge is shared among environmental advocates and the general public.

Explaining how going green can pay for itself, Green Computing: Tools and Techniques for Saving Energy, Money, and Resources ties the green agenda in IT to the broader corporate agenda in risk management, brand management, and reputation management. Written by a leading author in the IT field, this authoritative reference provides easy access to quotable budget justifications that readers can use to place IT stakeholders on the same page for this new agenda that can save valuable resources and the planet. Bringing together everything IT professionals need to know about green computing, the book embodies a new philosophy on how to deploy IT devices, software, and services in a way that makes people more effective with fewer resources. It presents helpful tips on how to maximize energy savings as well as how to present information gradually to allow peers and stakeholders to absorb it. The book’s comprehensive coverage includes various types of hardware and software, including the changes currently happening, underlying trends, products currently on the market, and what to expect—or, in some cases, what organizations should ask for—from suppliers in the future. On the hardware side, the book considers tablet computers—examining the iPad® and Android®-based tablets. On the software side, it examines the general trend toward cloud computing. It provides important examples of this rapidly emerging trend as well as guidance on how to use the cloud to make software available and to store large amounts of data. Demonstrating the savings and increased business resiliency that can result from green computing, this book offers C-suite executives, senior IT management, project managers, suppliers, and market analysts with the tools required to understand why you need to act, how to act, what to buy, when to do it, and who should act.

Green computing is the study and practice of minimizing the environmental impact of computer system and related resources effectively and eco-friendly. It is an emerging concept towards reducing the hazardous material and save our environment from the harmful impacts of the computer, CPU, servers and other electronic devices. Green computing is basically concerned with the Computers when they are manufactured, used and disposed with no side effect on environment. Use of computer plays a vital role in our environment pollution. In this era 70 percent of energy is consumed by our computers which are not in properly used and is still turned on and that consumed energy is main reason of co2 emission. So now there is a big need to save our environment and live a healthy life. Power efficiency of use and manufacture are design issues. To recycle computers, they must be manufactured to facilitate recycling. To fully enable reduced power consumption, the components must be designed to consume power proportional to the amount of useful work done. Computer technology can be used to facility energy efficiency in other areas. For example, telecommuting could save huge amounts of fuel. Also, using software to power manage buildings has proven significant savings. CMOS CPU power usage can be calulated by the number of transistors that switch. Because of scaling, static power consumption is a significant problem which represent wasted power. Reducing power in data centers must address the cooling issue. Running systems at higher temperatures increases energy costs and reduces reliability. Data centers which can avoid active cooling or use more efficient sources of power are able to reduce the total power consumed. The book covers theory of Introduction to Green Computing, Reducing the IT Footprint, Computing Technology for Energy Efficiency of other Physical Systems and Major Green Initiatives.