Why Measuring Embodied Impacts of Internet Routers is Important but Hard
SPS Best Poster Award
Abstract
Internet routers are the backbone of modern computing, yet their environmental footprint — especially the embodied impacts of manufacturing — remains understudied. Our analysis of the few public Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) shows that embodied impacts can dominate the life cycle across multiple impact categories. However, these assessments carry uncertainties that make them unreliable for deciding whether router A or B is more sustainable. We argue that sustainable decisions do not require exact numbers, which are hard to validate anyway. They require rankings that remain robust under uncertainty — a challenge for future research.
Research Area: Sustainable Networking
