1. ICT, the Electronics Industry and the Environment: US EPA’s Role
Barbara Karn, PhD
US Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
National Center for Environmental Research
1 September, 2003
NATO Advanced Research Conference
Budapest, Hungary

2. To protect the environment
EPA's Mission:
To protect the environment
and human health

3. EPA Organizational Structure

4. Office of Research and Development Labs and Centers
National Center for
Environmental Assessment
National Exposure Research
Laboratory
Human health and ecological risk assessment
Human and ecosystem exposure to pollutants
NCER
Extramural grants in all
research areas
National Risk Management Research Lab
National Health and
Environmental Effects
Research Lab
Preventing and reducing risks to
humans and the environment
Effects of contaminants
on human health and ecosystems

5. NCER Extramural Programs
Science To Achieve Results (STAR)
Research Grants
Competed Research Centers
Graduate Fellowships
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)

6. NCER High Priority Research Areas
Science To Achieve Results (STAR)
Pollution Prevention and New Technologies
Nanotechnology
Economics and Decision Sciences
Particulate Matter
Drinking Water
Global Change
Ecological Risk
Human Health/Children’s Health
Endocrine Disruptors
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)

7. Technology for a Sustainable Environment
Sample ICT Sector Research Projects
LCI Modules for semiconductor manufacturing
Electrolysis and ion Exchange for the In Process recycling of Copper from Semi-Conductor Processing Solutions
Dry lithography: environmentally responsible processes for high resolution pattern transfer and elimination of image collapse using positive tone resists
Electronic product tags for lifecycle management

8. Office of Environmental Information
Using Information technologies to meet EPA’s mission
System of Registries: the Foundation of EPA's Integration of Environmental Information
(facilities, toxic release inventory, monitoring information)
ENERGY STAR History
In 1992 the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced ENERGY STAR as a voluntary labeling program designed to identify and promote energy-efficient products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Computers and monitors were the first labeled products. Through 1995, EPA expanded the label to additional office equipment products and residential heating and cooling equipment. In 1996, EPA partnered with the US Department of Energy (DOE) for particular product categories. The ENERGY STAR label is now on major appliances, office equipment, lighting, home electronics, and more. EPA has also extended the label to cover new homes and commercial and industrial buildings.
Through its partnerships with more than 7,000 private and public sector organizations, the ENERGY STAR program delivers the technical information and tools that organizations and consumers need to choose energy-efficient solutions and best management practices. Over the past decade, ENERGY STAR has been a driving force behind the more widespread use of such technological innovations as LED traffic lights, efficient fluorescent lighting, power management systems for office equipment, and low standby energy use.
Envirofacts

9. Energy Star An EPA program in labeling energy efficient products
A. Home Electronics:
Answering Machines & Cordless Phones, DVD & Home Audio, Set-Top Boxes, TVs & VCRs
B. Office Equipment :
Computers, Copiers, Faxes, Monitors,
Printers, Scanners

10. EPA’s Design for Environment Program
Life Cycle Assessment of Desktop Computer Displays

12. LCA impact results

13. A simple example of the impact of EPA’s information technologies on the environment
Each EPA employee has 1 computer with 1 CRT monitor
20,000 employees replace their CRTs with flat screen LCDs
Using data from DfE report, 0.45 kg Pb/17 inch CRT
9 tonnes of Lead to be disposed of from EPA monitors!
0.8 M3 Lead ~ volume of 7 oil barrels

14. …and the production continues to grow

15. …with impacts at all stages
Water
Land
Water
Land
Water
Land
Water
Land
Water
Land
Water
Land
Air
Air
Air
Air
Air
Air
Resource
Extraction
Materials
Processing
Product
Manufacture
Product
Use
Collection &
Processing
Waste
Disposal
Recycle
Re-manufacture
Re-use

16. Is this what we want? www.svtc.org/cleancc/pubs/technotrash.pdf
WEEE, takeback of auto in Europe, Clair’s work with electronics

17. National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative (NEPSI)
Goal: Develop a national financing system, shared by manufacturers, retailers, government and consumers, to recover and recycle used PCs and TVs.
Approach: EPA is funding University of Tennessee to facilitate a multi-stakeholder dialogue aimed at identifying a recycling financing system and the steps that would be required (including necessary infrastructure, institutions) to implement the system.
Partners: Over 15 manufacturers and 15 states involved. 18 others, including recyclers, retailers, NGOs, academics.
Timing: Dialogue started June Hope for final decision in 2003.

18. NEPSI Vision
In 5 years…
Manufacturers are designing and making electronics that are easier to reuse and recycle and contain fewer hazardous constituents.
Consumers and businesses know which electronic products are more environmentally sustainable and are buying them.
Consumers and businesses are returning their used electronics for reuse and recycling through convenient and low cost outlets.
Reuse and recycling of used electronics is environmentally safe and markets for these materials are robust.

19. Waste Minimization Priority Hazardous Chemicals
Organic Chemicals and Chemical Compounds
1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene 1,2,4,5-Tetrachlorobenzene 2,4,5-Trichlorophenol; 4-Bromophenyl phenyl ether ; Acenaphthene; Acenaphthylene ; Anthracene ; Benzo(g,h,i)perylene ; Dibenzofuran ; Dioxins/Furans; Endosulfan, alpha & Endosulfan, beta; Fluorene ; Heptachlor & Heptachlor epoxide; Hexachlorobenzene Hexachlorobutadiene; Hexachlorocyclohexane, gamma- Hexachloroethane ; Methoxychlor ; Naphthalene ; PAH Group (as defined in TRI) ; Pendimethalin ; Pentachlorobenzene Pentachloronitrobenzene; Pentachlorophenol ; Phenanthrene ; Pyrene; Trifluralin
Metals and Metal Compounds
Cadmium ; Lead; Mercury

20. We are at the beginning of a Revolution in:
How things are made
Where things are made
And whether they are made
Rejeski, 2003

21. Nanotechnology is one aspect of the revolution
…and it offers opportunities for pollution prevention
Ultra-Green and Waste-Minimizing by Technical Definition
New Green Manufacturing--Atom-by-atom construction--
Less material to dispose of
Information for Environmental Protection/Risk Management--
More efficient use of materials, more data on wastes
Dematerialization- less “stuff” to begin with
New Sensors for Industry Controls, Ecosystem Monitoring
Energy Savings--Light Weight, Embedded Systems

22. The scale of things 1 nm = 10-9 m
The scale of various environmentally important molecules are indicated in this figure. The images shown from the top right and working clockwise are respectively, microbial cells (~1 um), a grain of pollen (~20 um), platinum cube-shaped nanoparticles (10 nm), and Xenon atoms on a crystalline Nickel (~1 nm). The grain of pollen is about 20,000 times larger than the image of atoms spelling out IBM.

23. This is how nature does it
Nanotech is bottom up
Making things by placing atoms precisely
where they are supposed to go
Glenn Harlan Reynolds, 2001
This is how nature does it
From a single cell, the human body contains about 7.5 trillion cells Fast enzymes, e.g., carbonic anhydrase or ketosteroid isomerase can process about a million molecules/sec
A. Using “natural” ingredients,
B. around room temperature,
C. small machines for assembling,
D. in non-toxic solvents,
E. with the end of life disposal accounted for

24. Different Worlds/Different Challenges
EPA
Second Industrial Revolution
First Industrial Revolution
Adapt
Shape
Atoms
Sharp boundaries
Incremental change
Science of discovery
Atoms/Bits (Digital/physical Converge)
Fluid, mobile, interconnected
Exponential change
Science of disruption
Rejeski, 2003

25. How do we protect the environment in the next revolution?
EPA
Next Industrial Revolution
1970
First Industrial Revolution
1970
What we control
Products
of Production
1990
By-Products
of Production
Production
itself
Rejeski, 2003

26. Early Awareness Matters: the opportunity for environmental protection
Prevention
Minimal damages
Early warning
Early action
Control
Reversible damages
High social costs
System disturbances
Early warning/
Late action or
Late warning/
Early action
Chaos
Run-away damages
Catastrophic costs
System collapse
Oops!
Damage
Time
Rejeski, 2003

27. High Speed and Discontinuities
Moore’s Law
The logic density of silicon
integrated circuits doubles
every 18 months
Monsanto’s Law
The amount of useful
genetic information
doubles every 18-24
months.
Dawkin’s Law
The cost of sequencing
DNA base pairs halves
every 27 months.
Displays = Moore’s Law
Storage = 1.5X’s Moore’s Law
Bandwidth = 2X’s Moore’s Law
GPU’s = 2-3X’s Moore’s Law
Connect any number “n”of machines - whether computers, phones or even cars - and you get “n” squared potential value.
Metcalfe’s Law
Rejeski, 2003

28. How Fast Can Organizations Move?
Organizational Clockspeeds
Media
Semiconductors
Personal Computers
Cosmetics
Automobiles
Machine Tools
Pharmaceuticals
Steel
Tobacco
Petrochemicals
Electricity
First, we find the lowly fruit fly, a species that normally spends all of two weeks on earth. Biologists study fruit flies because they pass their adaptive and acquired traits quickly from one generation to another. From an evolutionary standpoint, fruit flies are fast learners.
Organizations can also “learn to learn” at higher speeds, and do this without sacrificing effectiveness or efficiency. These organizations have high clockspeeds and may be better suited to a world of relentless and rapid change.
You do not have to be a fruit fly to win in this scenario, but you must be able to learn about rapid and adaptive change from the fruit fly organizations. You need to understand your clockspeed in relationship to the clockspeed of your competitors and collaborators and how that will affect your organization’s behavior and strategies.
Government Agencies 10 20 30 40 50
Years
See: Fine, Charles: Clockspeed: Winning Industry Control in the Age of Temporary Advantage

29. Two Scenarios for coping with the new revolution
Rip van Winkle Scenario
Slow Learning/Adaptation
Environmental impacts are an unintended consequence
of technology development and deployment
and
Regulation must be applied to reduce impacts
Vulcan Scenario
Fast Learning/Shaping
Environment is co-optimized as a part of technology development and deployment, or is the primary goal
Rejeski, 2003

30. We can see enough about the future to identify goals worth pursuing
Eric Drexler, 1986, Engines of Creation
Green, environmentally benign ICT technology must be one of those worthy goals.