The Wall Street Journal has been taking the
mickey out of Dell's claims to be carbon neutral.
Dell has been touting
its green credentials for some time and is now claiming to be
'carbon neutral' , however as the WSJ points out that claim could
mean anything.
This is partly because there is no standard definition
of carbon neutral. Companies can buy carbon credits and this market isn't
regulated and is also in flux. The vendor does not count emissions from
suppliers in its footprint, so those factories in China belting out smoke
don't count.
According to the WSJ, Dell counts the emissions produced by
its boilers and company-owned cars, its buildings' electricity use, and its
employees' business air travel.
However Dell does not count all the oil
used by Dell's suppliers to make its computer parts, the diesel and jet fuel
used to ship those computers around the world, or the coal-fired electricity
used to run them.
More
here.