Glasgow adds environmental impact to computer science syllabus

Opting to travel by train rather than plane has become a popular choice for many scholars and students, but few think so hard about the environmental impact of the computers they use.

That may soon change at one UK university, at least, where computer science students will be regularly taught and assessed on the sustainability implications of their chosen field of study.

The decision by the University of Glasgow’s School of Computer Science to integrate environmental questions into its curriculum – believed to be a first for a UK university – comes amid growing concerns over the enormous amounts of energy used by the industry, and in particular, by the supercomputers powering artificial intelligence tools.

It is estimated, for instance, that each ChatGPT query consumes 4.3g of carbon dioxide, with 16 queries the equivalent of boiling a kettle, and 139 the equivalent of running a washing machine on a hot cycle.

About 70 per cent of the computing sector’s carbon emissions come from powering data centres behind such algorithms, and a further quarter relates to the production of computing hardware – with the difficulty of recycling increasingly complex computers also set to be discussed in class.

“Computing has transformed society in my lifetime, enabling huge advances across science and medicine and providing us with new ways to instantly communicate, collaborate and share ideas,” said Wim Vanderbauwhede, head of the school’s low carbon and sustainable computing group, who has led the curriculum changes along with colleague Lauritz Thamsen.

“However, the many advantages we enjoy today as a result have come at the cost of a major contribution to the carbon emissions causing the climate crisis. The ever-increasing complexity of integrated circuits, and the reduction of repairability in favour of planned obsolescence, have outpaced our ability to use every generation of computers in the most energy-efficient ways.

“Rethinking our approach to education is one way to help ensure that the next generation of computing scientists, who will be increasingly greatly impacted by the effects of the climate crisis, can be equipped with tools to help them tackle it.”

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com