Can a laptop PC ever weigh the same as a Car?

Laptop PC’s are low power consumption when compared to desktop PC’s. Therefore they have a low Carbon footprint... Don’t they?

My Dell laptop consumes 50 KWh when being used. Conservatively, this would translate to about 200 KWh of power consumption per day. This in turn, is about 60 kg of CO2 related emissions per year.

But, when looking at carbon footprint, we need to consider that power generation from traditional sources is only about 1/3 efficient. Therefore, to consume 200 KWh of power, the Utility Company has to actually produce 600 KWh. Now my laptop is looking less perfect, responsible for 180kg of CO2 emissions per year.

When we factor in the average carbon cost of manufacturing a laptop, we have about 250kg to add to the laptops footprint.

I replace my laptop every 3 years. Therefore, my carbon footprint from my relatively low power laptop, is a not insignificant 790kg of CO2.

My small Dell laptop is responsible over a 3 year period for associated CO2 emissions equivalent to the weight of a Peugeot 107 car!

And this all assumes my laptop is powered off for 16 hours a day, when in reality, I often leave my laptop connected and powered on in the evenings for the convenience of “occasional use”.

 So, do I need to ensure my “low power” laptop is power managed effectively? Without doing so my laptops carbon footprint could easily jump to 1870 kg of CO2, equivalent to the weight of a Porsche Panamera!!!!

So yes, a laptop PC can weigh the same as a car…