OK, so let's say you spend $10k of developer time (about 1 month at current salary rates) to optimize your code to save the environment.
You must be saving less than $10k in electricity over the next couple years (otherwise you would have done it already to save money, irrespective of the environment). So let's say you saved $8k in electricity.
But... what is the developer going to spend that $10k on? Well, he'll probably need a car to drive to work. And a nice apartment to go home to (electricity bill there now too!). And probably he eats out at a steakhouse every now and then, and beef is terrible for the environment.
Not every dollar spent is equal in terms of environmental carbon. But whenever you try to analyze something this complex it soon becomes impossible track all of this.
Which is why what's really needed is environmental taxes (or cap and trade) to remove the externality for carbon production in the first place. The controversy is, just how much damage does carbon do to the environment? There's just no indisputable evidence.
You must be saving less than $10k in electricity over the next couple years (otherwise you would have done it already to save money, irrespective of the environment). So let's say you saved $8k in electricity.
But... what is the developer going to spend that $10k on? Well, he'll probably need a car to drive to work. And a nice apartment to go home to (electricity bill there now too!). And probably he eats out at a steakhouse every now and then, and beef is terrible for the environment.
Not every dollar spent is equal in terms of environmental carbon. But whenever you try to analyze something this complex it soon becomes impossible track all of this.
Which is why what's really needed is environmental taxes (or cap and trade) to remove the externality for carbon production in the first place. The controversy is, just how much damage does carbon do to the environment? There's just no indisputable evidence.