Doug Specht, Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication, has written an article for Geographical about whether working from home is better for the environment.
The coronavirus pandemic has meant shifts in working practices, with many businesses closed and others continuing to work from home.
Specht wrote: “The seeming ease with which online working appears to have become the norm – from universities and banks to fitness classes, and even GPs – may well mean that as the COVID-19 threat recedes and the economy begins to recover, companies and individuals could choose to continue working online and remotely; lured by the prospect of cheaper work spaces, but also by the green credentials provided by those images of clear LA and Delhi skies. But how much greener is working from home?
“While a great deal of reduced emissions is the result of people travelling less, and the closing of factories, the move to online working is not free of environmental consequences. Aside from the minerals needed to build such digital infrastructures, the amount of computing power required to keep everything ticking over is increasing significantly, too. And computing power requires real power.”
