EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE

Toward a Strategy that Works 'Forever'

J. H. Appelman and S. S. Krishnan

Delft University of Technology,Faculty Technology, Policy & Management, Jaffalaan 5 Delft, The Netherlands

Center for the Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP) Raj Bhavan Circle, Bangalore 560 001, India

Keywords: Eco-effectiveness, Eco-efficiency, ICT-industry, Transition, Sustainability.

Abstract: This paper takes the position that the ICT-sector would do well to embrace an efficiency strategy but argues

that a sole focus on efficiency is insufficient. Eco-effective strategies are introduced and it is argued that

they presuppose each other.

1 INTRODUCTION

The past 40 years we have witnessed the coming

about of a totally new industry and services sector;

the Information and Communication Technology

sector, colloquially referred to as the ICT-sector.

During those decades we have become highly

dependent on ICT to coordinate stocks and flows of

people, goods, materials and services around the

world. This growth has been healthy from an

economic perspective, creating and replacing many

jobs that were lost in other parts of industry. The

coming decades we are in for a far more deep

restructuring in the way we produce and distribute

things. Increases in population and dwindling

resource bases force us to be innovative, but the pay-

offs economically, ecologically and socially are

potentially enormous.

It is to be expected that more people will want to

use more computers and computing power while

resources are dwindling on a global scale. The goal

of this paper is therefore to sketch an outline for a

transition-path for the ICT-industry toward a non-

harmful profitable industry that is able to generate a

wide enough range of services and products to

include all people.

In order to be able to do so it is important to

determine how much of the materials and energy is

used to produce a computer in order to come up with

suggestions how to improve design, production and

recycling phases. Energy-usage and E-waste are the

two topics we focus on because energy use and E-

waste taken together are a good indicator of the

relative Ecological Footprint of the production of

most goods. (See Huibregts, et.al. 2008, 2010)

We will sketch why it is urgent to try to become

a more ‗green‘ sector in the background section,

where we also elaborate on two approaches that are

emblematic for a eco-efficiency and eco-

effectiveness approach. We show that a focus on

energy-efficiency is promising but insufficient if we

look further than 2 decades or so. We will touch

upon the implications and come to the conclusions

that the current efforts of the industry leaders are

primarily aimed at becoming more efficient; a

laudable goal but insufficient in the long run and

suggest a route to go from eco-efficient to eco-

effective solutions.

2 BACKGROUND:

SUSTAINABILITY

APPROACHES

In this section we sketch some global trends that

elucidate that it is timely to think about alternative

ways of producing and we introduce two approaches

to sustainability that exemplify two generic

strategies that promise to deliver a sustainable ICT-

sector. Then we follow with a more detailed account

of the current use of materials and energy in the

global ICT-sector. This will, just as in subsection 1,

be an exemplary account because there is a vast

world of research behind the multitude of topics. We

Appelman J. and Krishnan S. (2010).

EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE - Toward a Strategy that Works ’Forever’.

In Proceedings of the Multi-Conference on Innovative Developments in ICT, pages 63-70

 SciTePress

unite the sustainability subsection and the ICT-

subsection in the subsequent conclusions where we

outline a strategy, applicable at all levels and

therefore necessarily rather abstract, that can make

the ICT industry ‗last forever‘.

The first decade of this new millennium is

marked, even taking the economic crisis into

account, by an extraordinary economic productivity

and an alarming decline in the viability of eco-

systems that are the foundation of our prosperity and

survival.

The simple truth is that we as a species are able

to destroy our own conditions for prosperity. Since

1987, industry and end-consumers use more

resources than the earth can produce and if we do

not find alternatives and the current growth-rates of

our economies continues we will be out of Zinc,

Copper and a few other materials within 30 to 50

years.

There are, essentially, two ways to contribute to

a more sustainable computing industry. The first is

labelled eco-efficiency and is a ‗do more with less‘

strategy. When we give an overview of the activities

of the global ICT sector we will see that industry

and governments currently put great emphasis on

this strategy. The other strategy aims to

design/develop products and production platforms

that are inherently good, That is to say beneficial to

the natural environment, inclusive at the social level,

through an emphasis on diversity, and financially

profitable in the economic realm. But we start now

with an introduction of an approach that is

emblematic for an eco-efficient approach.

Eco-efficiency

The ecological footprint concept and calculation

method was developed by Wackernagel and Rees

(1992, 1996). Ecological footprint analysis compares

all human demand on nature with the capacity of the

biosphere to regenerate resources and provide

services. This resource accounting is similar to life

cycle analysis wherein the consumption of energy,

biomass (food, fiber), building material, water and

other resources are converted into a normalized

measure. The Ecological converst all inputs to so-

called 'global hectares'. The method does, however

have a ‗blind spot‘, it is myopic with respect to the

relative toxicity of substances released in nature,

while: ―Air, water, and soil do not safely absorb our

wastes unless the wastes themselves are completely

healthy and biodegradable‖ (McDonough &

Braungart, 2002). A barrel of dioxin can a have a

similar footprint as a barrel of a less toxic chemical

or maybe even harmless chemical substance that

required a similar amount of energy and resources to

produce. But apart from this remark it is a

comprehensive method that enables measurement

and comparison (bench-marking).

Per capita ecological footprint (EF) is a means of

comparing consumption and lifestyles, and checking

this against nature's ability to provide. Consumption

should be read here as input or demand. Just as

human consumers, industries and factories also

consume or demand large amounts of energy and

resources. It totally depends at what level you

analyze a system. The footprint can also be a useful

tool to educate people about carrying capacity and

over-consumption, with the aim of altering personal

behaviour. That is how the footprint was originally

used but EF can accommodate and measure

footprints at different levels. The smallest unit is the

individual but via aggregation higher levels can

easily be compounded and analyzed. Ecological

footprints show that many current lifestyles and

ways of producing goods and services to support

such life-styles are not sustainable. Comparison at

the nation-state or regional level clearly shows the

inequalities of resource use on this planet at the

beginning of the twenty-first century. As such,

although it is essentially an accounting method, the

truth it reveals about how we deal with our planet

and fellow human beings immediately gives rise to

ethical and political considerations. The approach

can inform policy by examining to what extent a

nation, region or municipality uses more (or less)

than is available within its territory, it clearly shows

limits. It does not provide much information on how

to transform production to a nourishing instead of

destroying activity, which stimulates diversity and is

profitable. The main prescription is to do more with

less to fight the twin-problem of dwindling resources

and growing populations. So, EF is ‗naturally‘

inclined to focus on efficiency strategies because of

the way in which the problem is framed. Essentially,

the strategy chosen is a watered down version of the

business as usual scenario. We will elaborate on the

use of the foot print and the strategy of eco-

efficiency when we sketch the current state of affairs

in the ICT-industry. Now we turn to the introduction

of approaches that try to come up with solutions to

the ecological problems, and therewith, economic

and social, that will redefine what business as usual

is.

INNOV 2010 - International Multi-Conference on Innovative Developments in ICT

Eco-effectiveness

These approaches are labeled as eco-effective

because they try to support a transition to an

economy and society that is not harmful, excluding

and economically unfeasible in the long run.

Positively framed these approaches aim to deliver

designs that are nourishing, inclusive and profitable.

A number of ecologically intelligent design

approaches to architecture, industry and

architectures that involves materials, buildings and

patterns of settlement have been formulated and

developed over the past two decades. Elements of

C2C are also found in industrial ecology (Ehrenfeld,

1997, 2000) and bio mimicry (Benyus, 2002) both

approaches were formulated from an engineering

perspective. In the agricultural field deep ecology, as

a philosophy, spawned a new radical way of re-

designing agriculture, permaculture, in such a way

that it functions once again as a CO2 sink,

contributes to instead of destroys (bio-)diversity and

is more productive per acre. All these approaches

aim to come to designs that last ‗forever‘, that is, as

long as the sun shines.

Cradle-to-cradle is an eloquent and outspoken

version of this approach. It frames (human) systems

as nutrient cycles. Materials designed as biological

nutrients provide nourishment for nature after use;

technical nutrients circulate through industrial

systems in closed-loop cycles of production,

recovery and remanufacture. Following a science-

based protocol for selecting safe, healthful

ingredients, cradle-to-cradle design maximizes the

utility of material assets. Responding to physical,

cultural and climate-related settings, it creates

buildings and community plans that generate a

diverse range of economic, social and ecological

value in industrialized and developing countries

(McDonough, W., Braungart, M., 2002b).

The keyword is the generation of value: eco-

effective systems tend to generate value in more

than one domain and once installed for a long period

of time. The aim is to maximize profit, people and

planet.

The design precepts that demarcate a solution

space are:

- Use only renewable energy sources such as

solar power, hydropower and wind power.

- Eliminate the concept of waste.

- Outputs of any component in the system should

provide nutrients for the biosphere or the

technosphere.

- No loss of quality should occur (upgrading of

materials instead of the current downgrading)

- Respect and cherish diversity. This includes

diversity of life, culture, place, needs and uniqueness

of people.

- Promote the rights of people and nature to

coexist in a healthy, mutually supporting diverse and

sustainable situation.

The last two points indicate, just as with the

Ecological Footprint, that the solutions that need to

be found will require more than becoming even

more efficient. Systemic change also requires

change at the institutional level, usually the domain

of politics in a co-production with regulators.

However, even if the political field would do

nothing industry will need to alter the ways in which

they design and produce in order to remain

flourishing as a sector, exactly because some raw

materials are increasingly getting scarce.

3 STATE OF THE ART: THE ICT

SECTOR

In this section we start with an impression of the

economic performance of the industry and continue

with energy-use and e-waste to sketch the ecological

performance of the sector. Then we report on the

initiatives undertaken by the ICT-sector itself to

decrease its impact on the environment while

remaining profitable.

Economic Growth

The Information Communications Technology (ICT)

Industry has experienced impressive growth figures

over the past 30 years. The sector contributed 16%

of global GDP growth from 2002 to 2007 and the

sector itself has increased its share of GDP

worldwide from 5.8 to 7.3% and it is expected to

jump further to 8.7% of GDP growth worldwide in

2020.

Economy-wise the ICT sector is performing

above average and the trend is, under similar

circumstances, that this growth pattern will be

maintained for the next decade. Initially the ICT-

sector has had a relatively green image, due to the

promises it potentially delivers in the area of tele-

working or distributed ways of working and critical

studies in the 70‘s already showed that vast

improvements could be made in the area of design

and production of hardware.

In low income countries, an average of 10 more

mobile phone users per 100 people was found to

stimulate a per capita GDP growth of 0.59%. (The

Climate Group, 2008). The report further suggests

EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE - Toward a Strategy that Works 'Forever'

that a third of the economic growth in the

Organization for Economic Cooperation and

Development (OECD) countries between 1970 and

1990 was due to access to fixed-line telecoms

networks alone, which lowered transaction costs and

helped firms to access new markets.

Energy Efficiency in Manufacturing

The energy consumed by a manufacturing process is

a major direct measure of its impact on the

environment. The energy consumed usually

translates to the amount of energy that has been

produced from fossil fuel-fired plants or captive

generators. The energy consumed thus has a strong

link with the amount of fossil fuels consumed and

contributes therefore to the depletion and

degradation of the environment (soil, air and water).

The sustainability benefits are further magnified

because a unit of energy consumption on the

demand side has a multiplier effect. It results in

savings of about five to ten units of raw energy input

on the supply side.

A typical desktop pc with a 17‖ flat panel LCD

monitor requires about 100 watts. Not much? Left

on 24/7 for one year, the system will consume a

whopping 874 kWh electricity. That‘s enough to

release 750 lbs. of carbon dioxide into the

atmosphere—the equivalent of driving 820 miles in

an average car (NASSCOM, 2009).

The ICT sector‘s own emissions are expected to

increase, in a business as usual (BAU) scenario,

from 0.53 billion tonnes (Gt) carbon dioxide

equivalent (CO2e) in 2002 to 1.43 GtCO2e in 2020

The ICT-enabled solutions would deliver savings of

1 tonne per capita in 2020, a significant step in the

right direction.

In 2007, the total Carbon footprint of the ICT

sector – including personal computers (PCs) and

peripherals, telecom networks and devices and data

centres – was 830 MtCO2e, about 2% of the

estimated total emissions from human activity

released that year. Even if the efficient technology

developments outlined in the rest of the chapter are

implemented, this figure looks set to grow at 6%

each year until 2020. The carbon generated from

materials and manufacture is about one quarter of

the overall ICT footprint, the rest coming from its

use (The Climate Group, 2008).

________________________________________

Section 2 has largely been based on a report composed by one of

the authors for the Government of India, Bureau of Energy

Efficiency.

By 2020, when a large fraction of developing

countries‘ populations (up to 70% in China) will be

able to afford ICT devices and will have caught up

with developed countries‘ ownership levels, they

will account for more than 60% of ICT‘s carbon

emissions (compared to less than half today), driven

largely by growth in mobile networks and PCs. But

these are not the fastest growing elements of the

footprint. Despite first-generation virtualization and

other efficiency measures, data centers will grow

faster than any other ICT technology, driven by the

need for storage, computing and other information

technology (IT) services. Though the telecoms

footprint continues to grow, it represents a smaller

share of the total ICT carbon footprint in 2020 as

efficiency measures balance growth (The Climate

Group, 2008).

E-waste

E-scrap is one of the fastest growing components of

the global waste stream and, arguably, one of the

most troublesome. The European Environmental

Agency calculates that the volume of e-scrap is now

rising roughly three times faster than other forms of

municipal waste. The total annual global volume of

e-scrap is soon expected to reach roughly 40 million

metric tons — enough to fill a line of dump trucks

stretching half way around the world. Rapid product

innovations and replacement, especially in ICT and

office equipment — the migration from analog to

digital technologies and to flat-screen TVs and

monitors, for example — is fueling an increase of e-

waste. (UNUniversity, 2007). For manufacturers,

improving the e-scrap recycling process is essential

to continuity in business one or 2 decades from now.

Unqualified or unscrupulous treatment of e-scrap is

still usual in many emerging economies and a lot of

the problems are exported by more developed nation

states to developing countries.

The inappropriate handling of E-waste leads,

amongst others, to:

1. Emissions of highly toxic dioxins, furans and

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

2. Soil and water contamination from chemicals

such as: brominated flame retardants (used in circuit

boards and plastic computer cases, connectors and

cables); PCBs (in transformers and capacitors); and

lead, mercury, cadmium, zinc, chromium and other

heavy metals (in monitors and other devices).

Studies show rapidly increasing concentrations of

these heavy metals in humans; in sufficient dosages,

they can cause neuro-developmental disorders and

possibly cancer.

INNOV 2010 - International Multi-Conference on Innovative Developments in ICT

3. Waste of valuable resources that could be

efficiently recovered for a new product lifecycle. In

many industrializing and developing countries,

growing numbers of people earn a living from

recycling and salvaging electronic waste. In most

cases, though, this is done through so called

―backyard practices,‖ often taking place under the

most primitive circumstances, exposing workers to

extensive health dangers. (UNUniversity, 2007) But

what kind and what quantities of valuable resources

are we talking about are we talking about?

One metric ton (t) of electronic scrap from

personal computers (PC‘s) contains more gold than

that recovered from 17 t of gold ore. In 1998, the

amount of gold recovered from electronic scrap in

the United States was equivalent to that recovered

from more than 2 million metric tons (Mt) of gold

ore and waste. A ton of used mobile phones, for

example – or approximately 6,000 handsets (a tiny

fraction of today's 1 billion annual production)

contains about 3.5 kilograms of silver, 340 grams of

gold, 140 grams of palladium, and 130 kg of copper,

according to StEP. The average mobile phone

battery contains another 3.5 grams of copper.

Combined value: over US $15,000 at today's prices.

Another example: recovering 10 kilograms of

aluminum via recycling, for example, uses no more

than 10% of the energy required for primary

production, preventing the creation of 13 kilograms

of bauxite residue, 20 kilograms of CO2, and 0.11

kilograms of sulphur dioxide emissions, and causes

many other emissions and impacts. Compared to

disposal, computer reuse creates 296 more jobs per

for every 10,000 tons of material disposed each year

(Electronics Takeback Coalition, 2010 ).

In addition to well-known precious metals such

as gold, palladium and silver, unique and

indispensable metals have become increasingly

important in electronics. Among them: Indium, a by-

product of zinc mining used in more than 1 billion

products per year, including flat-screen monitors and

mobile phones. In the last five years, indium‘s price

has increased six-fold, making it more expensive

than silver. Though known mine reserves are

limited, indium recycling is so far taking place in

only a few plants in Belgium, Japan and the U.S.

Japan recovers roughly half its indium needs through

recycling.

The market value of other important minor

metals used in electronics such as bismuth (used in

lead-free solders) has doubled since 2005 while

ruthenium (used in resistors and hard disk drives)

has increased by a factor of seven since early 2006.

The large price spikes for all these special elements

that rely on production of metals like zinc, copper,

lead or platinum underline that supply security at

affordable prices cannot be guaranteed indefinitely

unless efficient recycling loops are established to

recover them from old products (UNUniversity,

2007). Now, what is already done by the industry at

this point in time?

The global ICT industry has chosen an eco-

efficient strategy. Standardizing recycling processes

globally to harvest valuable components in electrical

and electronic scrap (E-scrap), extending the life of

products and markets for their reuse, and

harmonizing world legislative and policy approaches

to e-scrap are prime goals of a new global public-

private initiative called: Solving the E-waste

Problem (StEP). Major high-tech manufacturers,

including Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Dell,

Ericsson, Philips and Cisco Systems, join UN,

governmental, NGO and academic institutions,

along with recycling / refurbishing companies as

charter members of the initiative. (UNuniversity,

2007) In which reduction in the form of

dematerialization, recycling and re-use to recoup

precious resources and regulation to induce

compliance with standards are the main foci of

attention. That will sometimes be quite a challenge,

because alloys cannot be separated anymore and,

sometimes, the different metals cannot be separated

which delivers an alloy when melted. The quality of

the materials used is downgraded in this way and

cannot be restored and recycled for the same

purpose. It will serve a lower function because the

properties of the materials have been lost, a classical

example of down-cycling.

Valuable resources in every scrapped product

with a battery or plug — computers, TVs, radios,

wired and wireless phones, MP3 players, navigation-

systems, microwave ovens, coffee makers, toasters,

hair-dryers, to name but a few — are being trashed

in rising volumes worldwide. Worse, items

charitably sent to developing countries for re-use

often ultimately remain unused for a host of reasons,

or are shipped by unscrupulous recyclers for illegal

disposal. And, e-scrap in developing countries is

incinerated, not only wasting needed resources but

adding toxic chemicals to the environment, both

local and global. (UNUniversity, 2007)

EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE - Toward a Strategy that Works 'Forever'

Re-use happens but not systematically and given

the short innovation cycles in the industry

hybridization of products is a trend that is emerging.

To cater to consumer-preferences exteriors can be

replaced while the technology driving the device is

long-lasting and will be taken back by the producer

to retain and re-use the resources embedded in it.

The trick is to make the different components easily

separable, saving costs and creating conditions to

upgrade the resources used. Currently most of what

is re-used is donated and in the end thrown away in

developing countries that do not tend to have good

e-waste recovery infrastructures.

To get things moving forward, the GeSi report

launches a new SMART framework, a guide for

developing ICT solutions. Through standards,

monitoring and accounting (SMA) tools and

rethinking (R) and optimizing how we live and

work, ICT could be one crucial piece of the overall

transformation (T) to a low carbon economy> The

sector is supported when moving in this direction by

some inherent positive traits of ICT when related to

sustainability.

According to an INTEL report on sustainability,

the forecasts for energy consumption and emissions

of carbon dioxide to 2010 for the North American

economy may have to be adjusted down by around 5

percent, due to the rapid impact of the Internet

economy. Another study, by the Lawrence Berkeley

National Laboratory and cited in the INTEL report,

found that the IT-economy could potentially reduce

the growth in carbon emissions by 67 percent over

what they would otherwise be between 2000 and

2010.

ICT also contributes to dematerialization.

Through dematerialization, the same or an increased

quality and quantity of goods and/or services are

created using fewer natural resources (material or

energy). Decreased consumption of paper is a good

example and applications like e-readers could

contribute to a reduction of energy consumption.

Compared to reading a newspaper, receiving the

news on a wirless device like a PDA, results in the

release of 32 to 140 times less carbon dioxide and

several orders of magnitude less nitrogen and

sulphur oxides.

For years, the potential for video conferencing

has been discussed. Coupled with other soft-ware

such as sketching tools, Group Support Systems and

design support tools, virtual meetings become

eminently possible. Today‘s bandwidth makes the

technology truly viable. Existing video conference

solutions indicate that if 5 to 30 percent of business

travels in Europe were substituted by video

conferencing or virtual meetings, more than 5.59 to

33.53 million tons of CO2 emissions would be

saved. Based on German experiences, a 20 percent

reduction of business travel in the EU through video

conferencing could save 22 million tons of CO2

(INTEL, 2007).

The Climate Group, 2008) analysis did identify

some of the biggest and most accessible

opportunities for ICT to achieve savings:

1. Smart motor systems: A review of

manufacturing in China has identified that without

optimization, 10% of China‘s emissions (2% of

global emissions) in 2020 will come from China‘s

motor systems alone and to improve industrial

efficiency even by 10% would deliver up to 200

million tonnes (Mt) CO2e savings. Applied globally,

optimized motors and industrial automation would

reduce 0.97 GtCO2e in 2020, worth Euro68 billion

($107.2 billion).

2. Smart logistics: Through a host of efficiencies

in transport and storage, smart logistics in Europe

could deliver fuel, electricity and heating savings of

225 MtCO2e. The global emissions savings from

smart logistics in 2020 would reach 1.52 GtCO2e,

with energy savings worth Euro280 billion ($441.7

billion).

3. Smart buildings: A closer look at buildings in

North America indicates that better building design,

management and automation could save 15% of

North America‘s buildings emissions. Globally,

smart buildings technologies would enable 1.68

GtCO2e of emissions savings, worth Euro216 billion

($340.8 billion).

4. Smart grids: Reducing T&D losses in India‘s

power sector by 30% is possible through better

monitoring and management of electricity grids, first

with smart meters and then by integrating more

advanced ICTs into the so-called energy internet.

Smart grid technologies were the largest opportunity

found in the study and could globally reduce 2.03

GtCO2e, worth Euro79 billion ($124.6 billion) (the

Climate Group, 2008).

An industry led efficiency approach promises to

have quite some impact and could help us move

globally to a low-carbon economy. The Climate

Group report mentions that specific ICT

opportunities can lead to emission reductions five

times the size of the ICT sector‘s own footprint, up

INNOV 2010 - International Multi-Conference on Innovative Developments in ICT

to 7.8 GtCO2e, or 15% of total BAU (business as

usual) emissions by 2020. But is it enough? This is

what we provide an answer to in the last section.

4 CONCLUSIONS: EFFICIENCY

AND EFFECTIVENESS

PRESUPPOSE EACH OTHER

Although one may expect to find that ICT could

make our lives ‗greener‘ by making them more

virtual, the first and most significant role for ICT is

enabling efficiency. Consumers and businesses can‘t

manage what they can‘t measure. Efficiency may

not sound as inspirational as a CtoC solution but, in

the short term, achieving efficiency savings equal to

15% of global emissions. The breadth of solutions

will span motor systems, logistics and transport,

buildings and electricity grids – across all key

economies in the world. Mature economies will be

able to upgrade and optimize entrenched systems

and infrastructures. Developing countries could

‗leapfrog‘ inefficient mechanisms and integrate

state-of-the-art solutions into their evolving

societies. Companies that implement the solutions

will capture part of the potential global savings of

Euro600 billion ($946.5 billion).

In the introduction we already hinted at the fact

that there are a lot of signals that ―Business as

Usual‖ is over. Business as usual ultimately destroys

the natural base on which we built all our wealth.

We showed that awareness has translated in action

and, globally, the ICT industry follows other sectors

that put their sustainability bets on an eco-efficiency

strategy, exemplified by the Ecological Footprint.

Governments and regulators tend to like the

Ecological Footprint because they can fulfil their

designated role as regulator. Business and

government like it because you can measure things;

a precondition for regulation, control and prediction.

The fact remains however that the Ecological

Footprint is unable to factor in toxicity as a measure

and the framing of the problem leads to solutions

that follow the credo: ‗do more with less resources

and energy‘.

We strongly support the move the industry world

wide is making in the area of (energy)-efficiency,

because it gives relief to a host of problems we will

face the coming years. But efficiency strategy

provides just that, relief. And if we stick to such a

strategy as a sector we: ―… will in fact achieve the

opposite; it will let industry finish off everything,

quietly, persistently and completely.‖

(McDonough& Braungart, 2002a, p.81)

Given this common-sense notion, also echoed by

other scholars/researchers, we conclude that eco-

efficiency in and by itself is, as a strategy, necessary

but insufficient. Eco effective strategies should also

be formulated. And the strategies are mutually

supportive, almost pre-suppose each other, because

eco-efficiency strategies generate funds in the form

of cost-savings that should be reinvested in eco-

effective design of infrastructures and appliances to

ensure a sustainable future for the sector. Efficiency

further supports the move to an effectiveness

strategy because the more energy-efficient a product

is the easier it becomes to design and produce eco-

effective computers and auxiliary products. Simply

because alternative sources of energy-generation and

supply become feasible and the soft-ware and

technical support, that help ensure a stable supply of

energy are increasingly available. We also put

forward that following an eco-efficient strategy with

an eco-effective strategy is good business sense

because it creates new markets as can currently be

witnessed in the energy-sector. Where

diversification of supply, based on current

technologies, combined with smart-grid technology

creates possibilities to reduce carbon emissions

drastically. A precondition to come to solutions that

are effective and efficient and, therefore will

potentially last as long as the sun shines.

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