Use or Produce - Carbon Impact of a Video Streaming Device

This paper presents a detailed carbon-centered Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of a video streaming device designed for long-term operation. We chose a development board with a screen to have full control on its operation, for which we have detailed information on its components allowing us to accurately model emissions from the production to the use of the device. Concerning its use, we perform a dedicated measurement series to determine the actual power consumption in different video playback scenarios and develop a linear power estimation model, which we use to evaluate different usage scenarios. The resulting LCA indicates that potential savings are highest when exploiting low-power sleep modes or switching off the device during its lifetime. When operating the device in a country with low carbon intensity, production and usage show similar emissions, while in countries with medium to high carbon emissions, the usage of the device causes significantly higher emissions.