2. Ecological implications of digital activities

Digital technology can be characterized by three main operations, derived from classical communication theories: information production (processors), transmission (network), reception and storage (hard disks, physical memory). We generally distinguish three main classes of equipment that perform these operations: user terminals (computers, telephones, screens, etc.), networks, and data centers that host servers and data. The lifecycle of this equipment can be broken down into a manufacturing phase (including the production of raw materials), a transport phase, a use phase (which consumes electricity in particular), and an end-of-life phase.

The evolution of digital computing since the 1940s has been marked by a number of major trends: miniaturization, rapid growth in the number of elements used (today more than 70 elements