Earth Day was celebrated on April 22nd. The IPCC report highlighted the many challenges facing the planet. Ars will be looking at the technologies that we cover, including chipmaking and cars, to see if there are ways we can increase their sustainability and reduce their climate impact.
It’s gone days when you could go to Blockbuster to choose a movie for a night in. Thanks to streaming services like Netflix, physical media such as DVDs, Bluray discs, Blu-ray discs and Sony’s strange PlayStation Portable UMDs have been completely dethroned.Self-inflicted AnguishAt the moment, Amazon Prime and Spotify.
CDs saw a rise in sales for the first time in 17 years. 1.1 percent40.59 million units in 2021 compared with 40.16 millions units the year before. In 2021, people purchased 1.2 billionThis is compared to the 6.1 million pieces of physical video media a decade earlier. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), music streaming revenue grew by 5% in that time. 13.4 percent2020: $10.1 billion
Even though physical media are not dead, there are still people who use them. collecting cassettesVinyl has been making a comeback, but streaming is the norm. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. cologically speaking. Streaming Seinfeld for the umpteenth times is less energy and more environmentally friendly than purchasing the same season from Best Buy.
However, environmental benefits can vary depending on many factors, such as the time of day you are streaming, your country, and what you are watching. It is more eco-friendly than watching shows on Netflix, but streaming media has made it so easy to access that these benefits can be lost through repeated visits to the binge-worthy sections.
To stream or not stream?
Pinning down exactly how much betterunder some circumstancesstreaming a movie is compared to watching it on a DVD is tricky. Many of the papers on the subject date back to early-to mid-2010s. However, things have changed. In One studyAditya Nairthen, a Michigan State University engineering student, published this paper in 2019. He and his team performed a comparative assessment of the life cycle of a Blu-ray disc versus a Netflix movie. The team took an engineering class, where they were able to perform the comparative lifetime cycle assessment on any topic they chose. In 2016, streaming services were well on the way to replacing physical media as the main delivery method. Nair stated that streaming services were taking over physical movie viewing, and that the battle has only intensified in recent years.
The team had to assume certain things in order to complete the assessment. The team had to assume that the viewer was in Ann Arbor (which is important because of the sources and distance that a disc would need travel) and that they were either looking at a DVD in 2011 and Netflix in 2017. The viewer also had a typical LCD TV set.
A life cycle assessment is a process that considers the energy and emission of media. It includes the creation of the file or disc, its watching and disposal. The assessment included the writing of the file to the disk and packaging it. It also considered any energy or emissions that may have resulted from the purchase, retail process, and ultimately its use. The assessment of the digital file included only server loading, file delivery, as well as use.
Four to one
Nair and his team gathered data from past life cycle assessments, pieces corporate reporting, and the internet to determine the two delivery methods. EcoInvent databaseIt was then run through a piece life cycle assessment software. The results were broken down according the Tool for Reduction of Chemicals and Other Environmental EffectsThe United States Environmental Protection Agency (or TRACI), has developed metrics. These metrics included global warming potenci (represented in kilograms CO).2or equivalent), ozone destruction (kilograms CFC-11-equivalent), and compounds that can cause breathing problems (represented in PM2.5, or equivalent).
All metrics show that streaming a movie is less environmentally harmful than buying and watching a Bluray disc. The difference in global warming potential was only seen when the viewer streamed the movie four more times. We found streaming to be a better alternative than watching the movie on a Blue-ray. [disc], Nair said.
This is due to the fact that Blu-ray disc manufacturing involves more steps and materials. Streaming consumes a solid 90% of the energy. This is because users use the devices to transmit and receive data. According to the paper, only 12 percent of physical options energy came directly from playing the disc. The remainder came from manufacturing.
