Post APCihCrzt0gDBweRcW by jknodlseder@astrodon.social
 (DIR) More posts by jknodlseder@astrodon.social
 (DIR) Post #APCigyV9JA5Kd1r040 by jknodlseder@astrodon.social
       2022-11-02T20:04:55Z
       
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       Here is a graphical summary of the per-employee annual carbon footprint of astronomy & astrophysics that was assessed by four different studies of communities and labs around the globe (I showed this figure today during a presentation at the #ADASS2022 Conference).
       
 (DIR) Post #APCigz7mzUzeYrvrI8 by jknodlseder@astrodon.social
       2022-11-02T20:05:29Z
       
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       There are huge differences between the different estimates that are partially related to the carbon intensity of the electricity production. This is particularly visible for Australia, where computing is the dominant source of greenhouse gas emissions. If the same computing would have been done in France, its footprint would have been 14 times smaller.
       
 (DIR) Post #APCigzVXZBzZkX2pJQ by jknodlseder@astrodon.social
       2022-11-02T20:05:41Z
       
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       Another difference lies in the boundaries of the studies. Only the IRAP study was a comprehensive assessment of all sources of greenhouse gases, the other studies ignored some (important) emission sources. And for the IRAP study, use of data from astronomical observatories turned out to be the dominant source of greenhouse gas emissions.
       
 (DIR) Post #APCigzyxnnWnDmoKAq by jknodlseder@astrodon.social
       2022-11-02T20:06:48Z
       
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       So how does astronomy compare to other research fields? This is shown in the figure below that shows estimates for the construction and operations footprints of research infrastructures in the European #ESFRI roadmap.
       
 (DIR) Post #APCih7flD4v94Xt6Lw by jknodlseder@astrodon.social
       2022-11-02T20:07:08Z
       
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       Astronomy accounts for 24% of the construction footprint of all planned or currently developed research infrastructures, other physics infrastructures make an even larger contribution. Of course each scientific research sector relying on research infrastructures has some associated carbon footprint, yet physics (of which astronomy is part of) makes up a significant part of it.
       
 (DIR) Post #APCihCrzt0gDBweRcW by jknodlseder@astrodon.social
       2022-11-02T20:09:57Z
       
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       Making our scientific fields sustainable hence implies a significant reduction of the carbon footprint of our research infrastructures. I will tell you in a future thread what this actually means.