A study of the environmental impact of wired and wireless local area network access

This paper presents a life cycle assessment of the energy and emission intensity of wired and wireless local area network access. Following a cradle-to-grave approach, the energy consumed and greenhouse gas emissions in the manufacture of Ethernet switches and WiFi access points (including the extraction of raw materials, component manufacturing, assembly, and transportation) as well as during their actual usage are evaluated. The results show that while the manufacturing stage is responsible for a significant fraction of the overall energy consumption, the usage phase accounts for most of the emissions.