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Environmental and Economic Assessment of Desktop vs. Laptop Computers: A Life Cycle Approach

datacite.subject.fosCiências Naturais
dc.contributor.authorDomingos Ferreira, Miguel
dc.contributor.authorDomingos, idalina
dc.contributor.authorLeite dos Santos, Lenise Maria
dc.contributor.authorBarreto Ana
dc.contributor.authorFerreira, José
dc.date.accessioned2025-12-10T10:45:44Z
dc.date.available2025-12-10T10:45:44Z
dc.date.issued2025-05-14
dc.description.abstractThis study evaluates and compares the environmental and economic implications of desktop and laptop computer systems throughout their life cycles using screening life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) methodologies. The functional unit was defined as the use of one computer system for fundamental home and small-business productivity tasks for over four years. The analysis considered the production, use, and end-of-life phases. The results showed the desktop system had a higher overall carbon footprint (679.1 kg CO2eq) compared to the laptop (286.1 kg CO2eq). For both systems, manufacturing contributed the largest share of the emissions, followed by use. Desktops exhibited significantly higher use phase emissions, due to greater energy consumption. Life cycle cost analysis revealed that laptops had slightly lower total costs (EUR 593.88) than desktops (EUR 608.40) over the 4-year period, despite higher initial investment costs. Sensitivity analysis examining different geographical scenarios highlighted the importance of considering regional factors in the LCA. Manufacturer-provided data generally showed lower carbon footprint values than the modeled scenarios. This study emphasizes the need for updated life cycle inventory data and energy efficiency improvements to reduce the environmental impacts of computer systems. Overall, laptops demonstrated environmental and economic advantages over desktops in the defined usage cases.por
dc.identifier.citationFerreira, M.; Domingos, I.; Santos, L.; Barreto, A.; Ferreira, J. Environmental and Economic Assessment of Desktop vs. Laptop Computers: A Life Cycle Approach. Sustainability 2025, 17, 4455
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3390/su17104455
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.19/9574
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherMDPI
dc.relationUIDB/00681/2020
dc.relation.hasversionhttps://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4455
dc.relation.ispartofseriesLife Cycle Assessment in the Context of Climate Change: A Sustainable Development Perspective
dc.rights.uriN/A
dc.subjectcomputers
dc.subjectcomputer devices
dc.subjectdesktop
dc.subjectlaptop
dc.subjectLCA
dc.subjectLCC
dc.titleEnvironmental and Economic Assessment of Desktop vs. Laptop Computers: A Life Cycle Approachpor
dc.typedataset
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.issue10
oaire.citation.startPage4455
oaire.citation.titleSustainability
oaire.citation.volume17
oaire.versionhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
person.familyNameDomingos Ferreira
person.familyNameDomingos
person.familyNameLeite dos Santos
person.familyNameFerreira
person.givenNameMiguel
person.givenNameidalina
person.givenNameLenise Maria
person.givenNameJosé
person.identifier.ciencia-id7116-E1DE-88E7
person.identifier.ciencia-idC61B-86C5-60A9
person.identifier.ciencia-idB81E-BE45-E128
person.identifier.orcid0009-0006-9290-2686
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-4308-1563
person.identifier.orcid0009-0002-6904-0716
person.identifier.orcid0000-0001-7596-8065
person.identifier.scopus-author-id24281086400
person.identifier.scopus-author-id18133647300
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relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscoveryf0cead6a-42b5-4fe2-8ce6-4bc710a56ce7

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