The environmental impact of ebooks is even more difficult to gauge. This is not surprising, given the enormous scope for variability, including user behaviour, type of e-reader, power source, issues of obsolescence, recycling, printing etc.
Whilst Apple publishes carbon footprint figures for its devices (the manufacture of an iPad produces 130 kg Co2, an iPad2 105 kg Co2), the refusal of Amazon to disclose such data for the Kindle merely -contributes to this lack of clarity.
Amidst this uncertainty, it is interesting to note that there exists a general assumption that ebooks are by their very nature greener, due no doubt to there being something more tangible about trees being chopped down to produce printed books, compared with the somewhat ethereal ebook.
In 2003, Kozac compared a student purchasing 40 textbooks with 40 ebooks (using a Gemstar e-reader) and concluded ebooks caused less of an environmental burden.[13] In 2009, Cleantech compared printed books with the Kindle, This may not be an environmental issue, but it certainly raises some questions about ethics. Gold is also used in trace amounts to build the circuits. Based on the research I have found, most of the minerals used to produce ereaders comes from common sand and gravel, and the same can be said for books.5 All said, books appear to win out over ereaders when it comes to using nonrenewable resources. WINNER: PAPER BOOKS