The impact and potential benefits of computing on climate change
Ismael HASHIM
Abstract. Background: Climate change is being worsened due to rising energy use by computers and data centers. Although computing uses more than 5% of total electricity consumption in the US, it has the potential to transform climate action. Objectives: In this study, a variety of research evidence was used to evaluate how computing technologies impact climate change and ways to adopt sustainable IT practices. Methods: Narrative synthesis of peer-reviewed literature, industry reports, and policy documents examining energy consumption, climate modeling, green data center technologies, software efficiency and circular economy strategies. Best practices for sustainable computing were compiled. Results: The digital sector is estimated to consume one to two percent of global electricity, with data centers using 200 terawatt-hours annually. Carbon emissions from device manufacture and e-waste are substantial and rising. High-performance computing and AI enable climate simulations and improved weather forecasts. AI-assisted models can enhance grid balancing, renewable integration, precision agriculture, supply chain transparency, urban mobility optimization, and methane leak detection, enabling targeted near-real-time interventions. Newer energy-efficient processors, workload optimization, liquid cooling, waste-heat reuse, and renewable purchasing can reduce carbon emissions in the IT sector. Improved recycling can reduce electronic waste. Conclusions: Computers can help climate action by using AI to make better decisions. However, the environmental impact of data centers continues to rise. Research and coordination in sustainable practices across hardware, software, recycling and carbon neutral economy practices are urgently needed.
Keywords
Climate Change, Sustainability, Computing, Data Centers, Carbon Footprint, Digital Waste
Published online 6/20/2026, 5 pages
Copyright © 2026 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Ismael HASHIM, The impact and potential benefits of computing on climate change, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 67, pp 968-972, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644904176-131
The article was published as article 131 of the book Climate Action and Sustainability
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
References
[1] S. Bharany et al., “A Systematic Survey on Energy-Efficient Techniques in Sustainable Cloud Computing,” Sustainability, vol. 14, no. 10, p. 6256, Jan. 2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14106256.
[2] D. Mytton and M. Ashtine, “Sources of data center energy estimates: A comprehensive review,” Joule, vol. 6, no. 9, pp. 2032–2056, Sept. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2022.07.011.
[3] A. Usman and A. Y. Ali, “The Impacts of ICT Gadgets on Climate Change and Mitigative Solutions,” J. Comput. Softw. Program, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 1–7, Dec. 2024. https://doi.org/10.69739/jcsp.v1i2.110.
[4] A. A. Chien, “Owning computing’s environmental impact,” Commun. ACM, vol. 62, no. 3, pp. 5–5, Feb. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1145/3310359.
[5] B. Knowles, ACM TechBrief: Computing and Climate Change. ACM, 2021. doi: 10.1145/3483410.
