The advent of “green” computer design

Some fundamental changes are beginning to take place in the computer industry. These changes are not about MIPS or megabytes. They are about manufacturers beginning to look for the ways to make their products more recyclable. This process is known as “green” computer design.

Study help Digrammes have the potential to capture a lot of information on a single page. They help to show the conceptual links between ideas and allows to add additional material without the need to crowd the page. While drawing diagrammes - use lines, colours, branches, arrows or some other ways of showing connections between ideas; - leave lots of space to highlight things, add information or add questions and words; - write down key ideas in capitals as they are easier to read in a diagramme and explanatory notes in lower case.

One reason driving green design is the fact that computer manufacturing and consumption are growing rapidly and is becoming a significant cause for environmental concern.

Green computer design addresses a number of primary issues: reducing the resources consumed and the waste generated when producing computers or components; developing cleaner manufacturing processes; minimizing the energy and other resources that computers consume and enabling computers and components to be used (and thereby stay out of the waste steam) longer.

The computer industry must overcome a variety

of economic, technical, and organizational difficulties before green design can become commonplace.

Manufacturers will have to spend time and money to retrain designers, engineers, and assembly workers to perform environmentally friendly computer design and manufacturing. However, the influence can be made less serious because computer companies generally provide employees with regular retraining anyway to keep up with other new design and manufacturing practices.

One of the most promising “green” techniques, de-manufacturing, currently

faces a variety of problems that make it impractical on a large scale in many cases. For example, the cost of labor required to disassemble, sort, and transport recovered components can be much higher than the price of simply purchasing new components. Researchers are looking for ways to overcome this problem.

(Abridged and adapted from Business Xpansion Journal,“Recycling old computers?”, R. Duran)

Get real

Search home pages of the leading computer companies and environment websites to get more information on possible solutions to e-waste problem. Report back to the class and discuss what you have found.

Writing

You are planning to buy a new computer but don’t know what to do with the old one. Write an e-mail message to one of the electronic equipment manufacturers asking for information on company’s takeback policies.

 

From:
To:
Subject:	Old computer treatment

  Dear Sir/Madam,   I am mailing this via the “Contact Us” link on your website to (1) ………………… ….………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………. …………………………………………………………………………………………....   I bought my old PC (2) ………………………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………………………….... Could you give me more information about (3)………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………………………………………. …………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………………………….... ………………………………………………………………………………………….... I hope you will (4) ……………………………………………………………………   I look forward to hearing from you soon.   Yours faithfully, (5)……………………  

(1) explain the purpose of your e-mail

(2) provide basic information on your PC and its components, when and where you bought it, decide whether they are still working or not

(3) ask for information on the items the company takes back, delivery, package and prices

(4) express your gratitude for the help

(5) sign the letter

In the Realm of Science

1. Check the pronunciation and the meaning of the words below. Which of them are chemical elements? Which are compounds? Write down the symbols for the elements and formulas for the compounds.

nitric acid HNO3	cadmium Cd	sulphur S
nitrogen oxide NO2	calcium Ca	phosphine PH5
hydrochloric acid HCl	mercury Hg	carbon dioxide CO2
hydrocarbons XHCO3	dioxide XO2

2. Work in pairs. Take turns to read and note down these elements and compounds:

Unit 2 Progress Monitoring In this unit you have worked on the following vocabulary related to the topic “Negative influence of electronic equipment on the environment”

environmental hazards		to consume energy
landfill/damp sites		to release poisonous gases
incineration		to encourage/to urge e-recycling
disposal of electronic equipment		to donate/to reuse electronic equipment
to produce/to generate e-waste		to reduce/to limit computer dumping
liquid		to refurbish/to restore/to repair e-devices
environmentally friendly/safe		to recycle e-waste/industrial waste
to use up natural resources		to increase/decrease the amount of harmful chemical substances
a compound		to be short of

Tick (V) the points you are confident about and cross (X) the ones you need to revise.

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