Editing Emerging Research Directions (section)

=== Key Strategies for Reducing Carbon Emissions ===
Recent publications demonstrate that strategies to mitigate carbon emissions in edge computing frequently span multiple system layers. Hardware-centric measures include deploying ultra-low-power SoCs, optimizing chip layouts, and adopting novel packaging materials to improve heat dissipation. Complementary software-based techniques revolve around power-aware scheduling, partial offloading, and containerized orchestration with minimal resource overhead. AI-driven coordination has also gained traction in predicting workload spikes, carbon intensity variations, and thermal thresholds, thus enabling proactive resource scaling.

Integrating localized renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power at edge sites can enhance sustainability, although practical deployment remains challenging in certain regions. Government policies and industry standards further encourage the adoption of green practices, including energy efficiency mandates and carbon credits. Eco-design principles, which consider recyclability and modular maintenance, help to reduce e-waste and extend device lifespans.

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%; text-align:left;"
|+ Integrated Measures for Carbon Footprint Reduction in Edge Computing
|-
! Dimension
! Techniques / References
! Contributions
! Findings
|-
| Hardware
| Low-power SoCs ([4] Xu et al.) and AI accelerators ([6] Ramesh et al.)
| Minimized idle power and specialized hardware for inference
| Notable reductions in power usage across diverse workloads
|-
| Software
| DVFS with reinforcement learning ([11] Martinez et al.) and partial offloading ([13] Zhang et al.)
| Dynamically adjusted CPU frequency and partitioned compute tasks
| Demonstrated adaptive energy savings under varying load conditions
|-
| System Orchestration
| Edge–fog–cloud migration ([16] Chiang et al.) and container optimization ([14] Hassan et al.)
| Relocated tasks across network layers using lightweight virtualization
| Improved resource utilization and reduced operational overhead
|-
| Policy/Regulation
| Carbon credits ([24] Johnson et al.) and standardized metrics ([22] White et al.)
| Encouraged greener practices through financial and reporting mechanisms
| Facilitated consistent adoption of sustainability measures across stakeholders
|}