# Frugal computing revisited
The aim of frugal computing is to keep a liveable planet for everyone.
I wrote my "frugal computing" position paper (https://limited.systems/articles/frugal-computing/) in 2020.
It is hard to imagine that the notion predates the AI craze, but even without AI, back in 2020 emissions from computing were rising steeply. AI just made it infinitely worse.
(1/2) #FrugalComputing
For some reason, several people have told me that frugal computing is all about optimising efficiency. Clearly, I did not communicate my vision well, as this is not at all what I had in mind.
What I wrote was
> Therefore, as a society we need to start treating computational resources as finite and precious, to be utilised only when necessary, and as frugally as possible.
So it is about *sufficiency* first: not to use more than needed.
(2/n) #FrugalComputing
I added,
> And as computing scientists, we need to ensure that computing has the lowest possible energy consumption.
This is because inefficient computation means squandering of resources, so to be frugal also implies to compute efficiently. But crucially, what I am concerned with is the *overall* energy and resource expenditure, which includes that of manufacturing the devices. Therefore, efficiency here just as much means using your devices for much longer.
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I concluded with
> I would like to call this “frugal computing”: achieving the same results for less energy by being more frugal with our computing resources.
I see now that "achieving the same results for less energy" might muddle the waters somewhat. Let me give a few examples.
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For example, instead of computing, let's consider leaf clearing. The efficient way is to use a petrol leaf blower. The frugal way is not to optimise the energy efficiency of the leaf blower but to use a broom. It is arguably even more effective.
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Let's consider some actual computing: calculate the rest after division by 9 of 301415904225571808. The frugal way is to recognise that you don't need a computer or even a calculator for this at all: you can do it on paper or even in your head [1]. The result is the same. Not using a computer at all when there is no need, i.e. when you can obtain your desired result without it, is the ultimate frugal computing
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@wim_v12e I am almost sure that the energy to support a high-school-educated human long enough to calculate and check that with pen and paper is much greater than the energy to calculate it electronically
[1] Remove all zeroes and all groups of digits whose sums make 9. Do this until only one digit remains. So the result is 2.
(7/n) #FrugalComputing
