The other green of RFID

RFID is frequently seen as method of increasing efficiency to save money. But it could be seen as much as an environmentally friendly tool as a monetary one? How?

Consider that for every efficiency made, there is less energy used on wasted work, less excessive product in the supply chain, and less product wasted because it perishes or is not worth returning. Using the same process you would use to estimate the savings, you can estimate the environmental impact in terms of carbon tons, or BTUs. Since there is a chain of energy inefficiencies in the production of any product, the actual impact is considerable.

Then there is the fact that sensor nets are probably the most relevant existing energy saving technology behind the compact florescent because they let use eliminate huge amounts of energy usage that is unnecessary

RFID, in it’s broadest sense is the fundamental input of machine to machine networks which, when realized, will be able to do many of the things we are too lazy or busy to do as humans can be done automatically.

Want to change the world? Accelerate your realization of the power of the tool.

PS: This post was motivated by Blog Action Day http://blogactionday.org

Some references for calculating environmental impact
http://bioenergy.ornl.gov/papers/misc/energy_conv.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_tax