While researchers in both industry and academia are racing to build Quantum Computing (QC) platforms with viable performance and functionality, the environmental impacts of this endeavor, such as its carbon footprint, e-waste generation, mineral use, and water and energy consumption, remain largely unknown. A similar oversight occurred during the semiconductor revolution and continues to have disastrous consequences for the health of our planet. As we build the quantum computing stack from the ground up, it is crucial to comprehensively assess it through an environmental sustainability lens for its entire life-cycle: production, use, and disposal. In this paper, we highlight the need and challenges in establishing a QC sustainability benchmark that enables researchers to make informed architectural design decisions and celebrate the potential quantum environmental advantage. We propose a carbon-aware quantum computing (CQC) framework that provides the foundational methodology and open research questions for calculating the total life-cycle carbon footprint of a QC platform. Our call to action to the research community is the establishment of a new research direction known as, sustainable quantum computing that promotes both quantum computing for sustainability-oriented applications and the sustainability of quantum computing.

翻译：尽管工业界和学术界的研究人员正竞相构建具备可行性能与功能的量子计算平台，但这一努力对环境的影响——包括碳足迹、电子废弃物产生、矿物使用以及水与能源消耗——在很大程度上仍属未知。类似的疏忽曾发生在半导体革命时期，并持续对我们的星球健康造成灾难性后果。在从零开始构建量子计算技术栈的过程中，必须通过环境可持续性视角对其全生命周期（生产、使用与废弃处置）进行全面评估。本文重点阐述了建立量子计算可持续性基准的必要性与挑战，该基准将使研究人员能够做出知情的架构设计决策，并彰显量子技术潜在的环境优势。我们提出了碳感知量子计算框架，该框架为计算量子计算平台全生命周期碳足迹提供了基础方法论与开放研究问题。我们呼吁研究界共同确立名为"可持续量子计算"的新研究方向，该方向既推动面向可持续性应用的量子计算，也致力于量子计算技术自身的可持续性发展。