Environmental Implications of Wireless Technologies: News Delivery and Business Meetings

September 11th, 2004

By GadgetManiac

A new study out of the University of California, indicates that reading your newspaper electronically, rather than on paper, leaves a much smaller footprint on the environment.

Specifically, when compared to reading a newspaper, receiving the news on a PDA wirelessly results in the release of 32-140 times less CO₂, several orders of magnitude less NO_x and SO_x, and the use of 26-67 times less water. Similarly, wireless teleconferencing results in 1-3 orders of magnitude lower CO₂, NO_x, and SO₂ emissions than business travel.

These are impressive numbers, and if they are accurate, they portend the decline and demise of printed media, to be replaced by their electronic equivalents.