Abstract: - The use of Information Communication technology (ICT) is rapidly increasing in an age of

digitalization. Measurement of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions from ICT is crucial for reducing

them. Most ICT organizations focus on Scope 1 and 2 emissions as they have greater control over them,

commonly ignoring Scope 3 emissions. Scope 3 Category 1 (S3C1) emissions occur throughout the raw

material acquisition and manufacturing stages of an ICT product's life cycle accounting for a large portion of

Management Life Cycle Assessment (EMLCA) tool has been used for the S3C1 emissions estimation. PLCA

and Spend-based methods are compared on their ability to calculate CO2e emissions. It is concluded that the

Spend-based is faster than PLCA for predicting ICT emissions with modest uncertainty for smartphone and

laptop components. Furthermore, this work explores the advantages and downsides of both methods.

Key-Words: - CO2e emissions, GHG protocol, Information Communication Technology (ICT) Sector, Laptop

Received: May 23, 2023. Revised: August 5, 2023. Accepted: October 1, 2023. Published: October 12, 2023.

human population barely doubled, [1]. The

Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

sector is not only quickly expanding, but also

over the past few decades, global sales of ICT

products are expected to skyrocket in the future. For

example, global laptop and mobile phone sales are

expected to rise from roughly 3 billion to more than

4 billion units per year, [5], [6], [7].

Simultaneously, there is a rising awareness of the

potential environmental impact of the ICT sector,

particularly in terms of CO2 equivalent (CO2e)

emissions, [8]. More information about the carbon

impact of ICT is required. In any case, ICT can help

8% of worldwide electricity consumption and nearly

2% of total global carbon emissions, [6], [10]. The

fundamental question is, "How can the CO2e

emissions attributable to the ICT sector be

estimated?" Such computations might be time-

consuming, and even if successful, the result may

not provide the appropriate knowledge - or, more

importantly, what needs to be known. As a result, it

appears logical to define the aim explicitly and then

analyze if the steps adopted will help reach the

target. The contribution of the ICT industry to total

global CO2e emissions can be estimated using a

operational emissions (from energy usage and

maintenance), and end-of-life emissions (emissions

after disposal), [11].

calculated using different existing market

approaches such as Supplier Specific Method

(sometimes performed with Product Life Cycle

Assessment (PLCA)), Spend Based Method, Hybrid

Method, Average-data Method, and so on. It is also

necessary to grasp the life cycle phases and their

respective Scope emissions of an ICT product – also

storage, product use, and end-of-life.

by the present research.

Scope 3 emissions encompass all indirect emissions

that occur in the value chain of the reporting

company (including upstream and downstream) and

are not included in Scope 2 emissions. This category

of emissions is optional, allowing for the treatment

of all additional indirect emissions. These emissions

are produced by sources that the company does not

own or control as a result of its activities or

environmental certificate, among other things.

PLCA and Spend-based approaches are the two

main emphasized methods in this area (for this

study). As a result, they are discussed in detail for

greater comprehension.

Product Life Cycle Assessment (PLCA) is a

systematic analytical technique, method, and model

for evaluating the environmental impacts of

concepts, gain competitive advantages, and manage

risks, [15], [16]. Manufacturers of ICT products

want to know how they may reduce the

environmental impact of each product as much as

possible. Today, the PLCA is the primary

methodology and tool for satisfying this demand.

The International Standardization Organization has

standardized the LCA method for all products, [17],

while the European Telecommunications Standards

Institute (ETSI) and International

Telecommunication Union (ITU) have standardized

current thesis.

The GHG protocol specifies four basic methods for

measuring and reporting emissions from acquired

products and services, each of which uses a distinct

data format (S3C1 emissions). These strategies

employ two sorts of data: data collected from the

supplier and secondary data (i.e., industry average

data). Supplier-specific approach (sometimes

accomplished with PLCA), Hybrid method

collection guidance for all four approaches. This

section discusses the Spend-based method, for

PLCA scores of ICT goods. This is significant

because some organizations utilize PLCA

(≈supplier-based) to estimate S3C1 while others

employ non-PLCA supplier-based, hybrid, average

or Spend-based, or other methods. The

repercussions of employing various strategies are

poorly understood at the business and ICT Sector

levels. The current study on corporate S3C1

accounting in the ICT Sector aims to shed light on

some of these issues.

well as supplier Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.

Moreover, the four calculation methods proposed by

the GHG protocol are not clearly defined in detail

and several variations and combinations are

possible. Few studies, e.g., [19], [20], look at the

ICT sector in a broader sense and provide a

systematic assessment of the sector’s environmental

implications and potentials; however, while such

studies include energy use, carbon footprint, and

S3C1 emissions, they fail to address optimal

calculation approaches to be used by companies in

accordance with GHG protocols.

assumptions, applicability, the feasibility of the

PLCA method and Spend-based method,

respectively, for ICT Corporate and ICT Sector

carbon footprint level Scope 3 Category 1

estimations. The third objective is to analyze if

PLCA can replace other approaches, for

corporate/sector-level carbon footprint with regard

to data accuracy, data collection, and target setting

for S3C1 emissions. Note that the focus of this study

works in general.

Fig. 3: Procedure of the EMLCA tool for LCI

analysis.

components of smartphones and laptops. The

components considered for EMLCA for these

products include ICs, Displays, and PWBs for

smartphones. The components included for laptops

are ICs, Displays, PWBs, and SSDs.

The process of calculating S3C1 emissions in the

ICT industry using PLCA and Spend-based

Corporate and ICT Sector carbon footprint level

S3C1 estimations using the PLCA method and

Spend-based method, respectively. This study

determines the sensitivity, uncertainty, reliability,

applicability, and other characteristics of the

approaches under various conditions, which are

briefly explained in sections 4 and 5.

using electricity with global average emissions - is

taken into account, three other hypothetical

The electricity consumption for these components is

measured in "kWh/USD" units, while the

environmental burden is measured in "tonnes CO2e/

USD" units.

in use globally was some 1774 million units and 785

million units respectively with 5% uncertainty. The

prices used for the IC, PWB, and Display for

smartphones are 14.9USD, 20USD, and 25USD

respectively with 50% uncertainty for all. The price

Display are 0.00024254, 0.00042744, and

0.00065067 tonnes CO2e/USD respectively, [30],

[31].

terms of “tonnes CO2e/kWh” used for the

production of chosen components (IC, PWB,

Display) under PLCA and Spend-based methods.

They are 0.000588392 (Global Average),

0.00003655 (Low Carbon Country Case, Norway),

0.0008108 (High Carbon Country Case, India), and

0.00069675 (China), [6], [32].

total global S3C1 emissions for smartphones and

laptops are 195.45 million tonnes (Mt) CO2e and

224.01 Mt CO2e under PLCA and Spend-based,

respectively. Similarly, Figure 4 shows how the

value of these emissions varies depending on where

the raw materials are collected and where the

components are produced. The vertical error lines

for the rectangular bars in Figure 4 show the

uncertainty of the data used in the EMLCA tool for

the information on the components, electricity use

for raw material extraction, and manufacture for

input/output values (of the components and

emissions) in the EMLCA, and a few other

based for laptops.

have a common most influential component when it

comes to both smartphones and laptops. Hence, the

sensitivity greatly depends on the primary input data

provided to both the methods related to the

specifications of the input parameters.

Fig. 7: Sensitivity analysis for Smartphones –

PLCA, [12].

Fig. 8: Sensitivity analysis for Smartphones –

Fig. 9: Sensitivity analysis for Laptop – PLCA, [12].