Have you ever thought about the energy you spend using tech devices like your Blackberry, iPod, or laptop? In what's been a fortuitous twist for tech businesses, many of them seem to have escaped the condemning scrutiny that auto makers, home appliance manufacturers, and other industries have endured from green business proponents. After all, your iPod is such a slick little device, and Apple's such a cool company, how could it not be green, right?

Not so, says the International Herald Tribune. While many tech businesses have promoted a clean, earth-friendly image, many of the products these companies churn out are far from it. Consider for a moment how much energy is spent just as a result of people constantly plugging in and unplugging devices like laptops, cells, mp3 players. Taking that a step further, also think about the semiconductors, communications towers, and air-conditioned data centers required to keep all these gadgets going.

Doesn't sound so green, does it? The IHT reports that the European Social Investment Forum, a French group that promotes sustainable business, released a study this week revealing that the tech sector is responsible for 2% of global carbon emissions, nearly as much as air transportation generates. What's more, emission from data centers and services over the Internet (much like Google's giant server centers) will have quadrupled by 2020—making its carbon footprint larger than aviation, according to a recent report in The Economist. Someone must be feeling guilty though, because in a funny twist of irony, Google's charitable cousin, Google.org, is in Washington today hosting a conference about commercializing plug-in hybrid cars.

It's unquestionable that green business and tech are two of the hottest industries right now. While in many ways the two have evolved side by side, it appears that they're often mutually exclusive. And tech businesses stand to lose more than just enviro-customers as a result. It's also becoming a critical issue for the investment banks and VCs who invest in these companies because of the potential future expenses related to regulations on carbon emissions and energy use (although, for now at least, that may only be a problem in Europe). Reports the IHT:

"West LB, a German bank, said that the emissions from the [tech] industry has created, 'a situation we consider to be unsustainable.'"

While those concerns may be slightly further off for U.S. businesses, what do you think about the notion that tech may not be as environmentally-friendly as it pretends to be? Do you think this truly could have the effect of putting-off consumers or are we all so shackled to our phones and iPods that Apple could be operating on cans of aerosol DDT and we wouldn't care?