Done, I have mailed some of the researchers over at Physical Resource Theory.
This is the email.
Quote:
( This letter is in english so that it can be shared with the members on the mobileread forums https://www.mobileread.com/forums/ )
Hi!
There has been a lot of discussion regarding the sustainability issues of paper books and ebooks on the mobileread forums, some discussions are sporadic, but this one
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27982
clearly addressed the problem in detail. Overall through the different threads there are claims that eBooks ought to be a smaller strain on the environment since they don't require paper, transport and printing whilst others claim that there is no obvious gain of using eBooks since they require an electronic device ( Laptop, eBook reader or PDA) to be read. Several points have also been made regarding life time of electronic devices and the type of resources needed for producing such devices. Some have even claimed that one must take the electronic infrastructure into account when comparing eBooks with paper books. Clearly, the interest in environmental issues is huge, but sadly our knowledge is not enough to match the interest. Hopefully you can answer our questions and bring light and facts into the discussions.
What I mean to ask is:
1) Do you have any data on the "environmental pressure" which paper books cause; that is, from the actual trees down to an end consumer ?
2) Do you have any data on the "environmental pressure" which an eBook causes? You are welcome to take different perspectives on this one; For example if some already has a Laptop, others have stationary computers, and also the case when you must buy an eBook reading device for this.
3) What is your estimate on the question; " which is the most sustainable of eBooks and paper books " ?
Best regards
Gianfranco Alongi
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