# An environmental assessment of computing services in higher education \[Online\]

- Institution: CERN
- Taught by: Caterina Doglioni, Tobias Fitschen
- Year: 2026
- Language: English
- Subjects: Mathematics
- Source: [CERN](https://videos.cern.ch/record/3025596)
- Licence: [CERN](https://copyright.web.cern)
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

Scientific progress increasingly depends on powerful computing infrastructure, yet its environmental impacts across the full life cycle are often overlooked. This study evaluates the energy and resource efficiency of computing hardware and software within the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE) at the University of Manchester, informing the university's sustainability targets, including Net Zero by 2050. Using life cycle assessment (LCA), hardware audits, and software energy profiling, the study compares three computing setups: desktop computers, laptops, and high-throughput computing cluster nodes. System boundaries cover component production and operational use across 15-year scenarios.

Specialised compute nodes dominate most impact categories, particularly those driven by manufacturing. Across nearly all indicators, embodied impacts exceed operational electricity use, highlighting the growing significance of manufacturing burdens despite grid decarbonisation. Scenario analyses demonstrate that replacement strategies strongly influence outcomes, underlining the importance of demand management and procurement policies in reducing academic computing's environmental footprint.

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## Lectures

1. [An environmental assessment of computing services in higher education \[Online\]](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/cern/3025596/042a07ff5659), 28 min (CERN's player)