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Windows 10 end of life costs more CO2 than Greece produces in a year

Microsoft will end of life Windows 10 in October 2025. At that point a lot of computers will need to be replaced if people want to continue to use Windows.

Software companies end long term support for software all the time. This isn’t news in itself.

The problem arises when minimum requirements for the next version of Windows forces people to also upgrade their computers.

According to Canalys 240 million computers will be impacted by this forced upgrade.

Looking at the CO2-eq emissions in the lifetime of a computer, including the production, transportation, and end of life in a landfill, this comes to about 331kg.

The math is simple enough to do at this point: 331kg CO2-eq per computer times 240 million computers, which comes to about 80 million tonnes CO2-eq.

This is more CO2 than all of Greece produces in an entire year.

(Average CO2-eq emissions per capita is 5.6t, their population is 10.3 million, for a total of 57,7 million tonnes CO2-eq).

References:

1. https://www.itpro.com/software/windows/windows-10-end-of-life-could-prompt-torrent-of-e-waste-as-240-million-devices-set-for-scrapheap
2. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370158642_Sustainability_Assessment_of_Electronic_Waste_Remanufacturing_The_Case_of_Laptop

#Climate #ClimateChange #eWaste #Microsoft #Windows #ClimateCrisis #Emissions