Electronics, energy, and the environment

Technology's impact on human health has been a concern for at least 200 years. These concerns range from the waste and pollution due to mining and heavy manufacturing to emissions from the automobile and fossil fuel power plants. Now the proliferation of electronic products and their manufacture can pose additional threats to the now fragile balance in the Earth's eco systems. While posing threats, electronics can be the solution to many of our current and future environmental and energy related problems. The environmental threats from electronics can be significantly reduced or eliminated through environmentally responsible design manufacture, distribution, usage, and end-of-life disposal. In a similar way the systematic use of photovoltaic power generation, electric and hybrid automobiles and solid-state lighting can significantly reduce our carbon footprint and improve our environment. A systematic discussion of environmentally conscious life-cycle product engineering and manufacturing of "green" electronics is presented along with the potential impact on the environment of the widespread deployment of photovoltaic devices, solid state lighting and nanotechnology.