Dealing with our electronics-dominated world

Posted: June 22, 2010 Eric Williams looks at the environmental impacts of our rapidly expanding arena of electronic technologies, particularly the ramifications of our proliferating production and use of semiconductors and computers. Williams is an assistant professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, a part of Arizona State University’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, and in ASU’s School of Sustainability. His work is in the field of industrial ecology. He focuses in part on studies of the intricate web of relationships between information technologies and energy consumption, telecommuting, e-commerce, and the life-cycles of semiconductors and computers. He also is working on solutions to problems arising from the ballooning amounts of electronic waste – or “e-waste,” old and discarded computers and related devices – that are building up worldwide and presenting environmental hazards. Williams also talks about his work – and what led him to his research endeavors – in a recent interview on LiveScience.com.