JP2009058749A - Image forming apparatus and imaging system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus presenting a using method for the image forming apparatus which is best for the environment for a user. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus is provided with: a CO<SB>2</SB>conversion formula parameter storing region 213 storing converting information for converting consumed energy necessary for various operations of the image forming apparatus 1 and consumed resources made necessary to expected amount of ejection of greenhouse gas (such as carbon dioxide); an apparatus interior information gathering module 205 gathering information of the consumed energy and the necessary consumed resources rising along with the operation when the image forming apparatus 1 carries out a certain operation; and a CO<SB>2</SB>conversion counter calculating module converting the operating information gathered by the apparatus interior information gathering module 205 to the expected amount of ejection of the greenhouse gas by using the converting information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming system, and more particularly to a technique for providing an eco-counter for an image forming apparatus and an image forming system.

  In recent years, environmentally friendly technologies have become increasingly important in the field of image forming apparatuses. Environmentally-friendly technologies mainly focus on cost reduction, for example, reduction of paper and toner to be printed and reduction of power consumption. However, environmental technologies are not limited to them, and the environmental response by the user is shown by showing how much environmental load is applied to the operation of the image forming apparatus operator (hereinafter referred to as user). It is also an environmentally friendly technology.

As technologies related to the present invention, there are technologies described in Patent Documents 1 to 3. Patent Document 1 discloses an image forming apparatus that calculates and displays an environmental load value as a load point. Patent Document 2 also includes a power generation unit as a main power source inside the apparatus, which eliminates the need for power supply from a commercial power source that is an external drive power source. Therefore, energy resources that improve energy efficiency and are good for the environment are also disclosed. An image forming apparatus that achieves the purpose of use is disclosed. This technology is an environment-friendly technology that focuses on the above-described cost reduction such as power consumption. The technology described in Patent Document 3 relates to a power supply device that has an auxiliary power supply unit having a power generation unit and a capacitor, and that solves the problem of supplying stable power to an external device and avoiding a failure that occurs during an abnormality. Is.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-088506 JP 2005-049855 A JP 2006-210176 A

The conventional technique for reducing the counter of the image forming apparatus for the purpose of reducing the cost may not use the environment in consideration. Therefore, by obtaining the CO ₂ emission amount by the combination of print settings of the image forming apparatus and providing a means for presenting the optimum combination of print settings, it becomes possible to understand the optimum usage method for the environment of the image forming apparatus, It helps users to deal with the environment.

  In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of presenting a user with a method of using an image forming apparatus that is optimal for the environment.

  The invention according to claim 1 for achieving the above object provides conversion information for converting the energy consumption necessary for various operations of the image forming apparatus and the necessary resource consumption into the expected amount of greenhouse gas emissions. A conversion information storage area to be stored, an information collecting means for collecting information on energy consumption required for the operation and required consumption resources when the image forming apparatus operates, and operation information collected by the information collecting means Is converted to a greenhouse gas emission expected amount using the conversion information stored in the conversion information storage area.

  The invention according to claim 2 includes setting means for an operator to input print settings, and display means for displaying an estimated greenhouse gas emission amount converted by the conversion means to the operator, and the conversion The information corresponds to a difference in print settings, the conversion means calculates the expected greenhouse gas emission amount according to the combination of print settings, and the display means print settings input by the setting means The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an expected greenhouse gas emission amount calculated by the conversion unit is displayed in accordance with a combination of the above.

  The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the display means displays a list of expected greenhouse gas emissions of all combinations of print settings that can be selected by the image forming apparatus. Forming device.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the second or third aspect, the display means recommends and displays a combination of print settings that minimizes the expected amount of greenhouse gas emissions.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the display means uses a combination of the expected greenhouse gas emission calculated by the conversion means according to a combination of print settings input by the setting means and other print settings. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a difference between the estimated greenhouse gas emission amount calculated in accordance with the difference is displayed.

  A sixth aspect of the present invention is the image forming apparatus according to the fourth aspect, wherein the setting means automatically selects a combination of print settings that minimizes the expected amount of greenhouse gas emissions.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the information collecting means takes statistics of jam locations for each selected print setting for a certain period of time, and generates an estimated amount of greenhouse gas emission defined for each jam location to generate jams. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus adds the rate.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, a greenhouse gas emission amount is obtained for each operator.

  The invention according to claim 9 is an image forming system in which the image forming apparatus according to claim 4 or 6 and a personal computer are communicably connected via a network, and the image forming apparatus includes a greenhouse gas. An image forming system characterized in that the personal computer is notified of a combination of print settings that minimizes the expected amount of discharge, and the personal computer sets the received combination of print settings as a default setting of a printer driver. is there.

  A tenth aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of the image forming apparatuses according to the eighth aspect, collects greenhouse gas emissions for each operator obtained by each image forming apparatus, and totals the emissions for each user group. An image forming system including a management device that performs the above operation.

  The invention according to claim 11 is connected to a management server via a network, and the image forming apparatus acquires the updated conversion information when the management server has the updated conversion information. 11. The image forming system according to claim 9, wherein the image forming system is updated.

  The invention according to claim 12 is characterized in that the management device warns and restricts the use of the user group when the aggregated discharge amount of a certain user group reaches a certain percentage of the allowable amount. 10. The image forming system according to 10.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of presenting a user with a method of using an image forming apparatus optimal for the environment.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the greenhouse gas is mainly considered to be carbon dioxide (hereinafter referred to as CO ₂ ).

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a controller 100, an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) 101, a scanner unit 102, a paper discharge tray 103, a display panel 104, and a paper feed table. 105, a print engine 106, a paper discharge tray 107, and a network I / F 108. The controller 100 includes a main control unit 111, an engine control unit 112, an input / output control unit 113, an image processing unit 114, and an operation display control unit 115. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is configured as a multifunction machine having a scanner unit 102 and a print engine 106. In FIG. 1, the electrical connection is indicated by a solid arrow, and the flow of a sheet or a document bundle is indicated by a broken arrow.

  The display panel 104 is an output interface that visually displays the state of the image forming apparatus 1 and is an input when the user directly operates the image forming apparatus 1 or inputs information to the image forming apparatus 1 as a touch panel. It is also an interface (operation unit). The network I / F 108 is an interface for the image forming apparatus 1 to communicate with other devices via the network A, and uses an Ethernet (registered trademark) or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface.

  The controller 100 is configured by a combination of software and hardware. Specifically, a control program such as firmware (ROM) stored in a nonvolatile storage medium such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), a nonvolatile memory, a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), or an optical disk is a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) or the like. The controller 100 is configured by a software control unit that is loaded into a volatile memory (hereinafter referred to as a memory) and configured according to the control of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and hardware such as an integrated circuit. The controller 100 functions as a control unit that controls the entire image forming apparatus 1.

  The main control unit 111 plays a role of controlling each unit included in the controller 100, and gives a command to each unit of the controller 100. The engine control unit 112 serves as a driving unit that controls or drives the print engine 106, the scanner unit 102, and the like. The input / output control unit 113 inputs a signal or command input via the network I / F 108 to the main control unit 111. The main control unit 111 also controls the input / output control unit 113 to access other devices via the network I / F 108 and the network A.

  The image processing unit 114 generates drawing information based on image information to be printed out under the control of the main control unit 111. The drawing information is information for drawing an image to be formed in the image forming operation by the print engine 106 as an image forming unit. The image processing unit 114 processes image data input from the scanner unit 102 and generates image data. This image data is information stored in the image forming apparatus 1 as a result of the scanner operation or transmitted to the client apparatuses 2 and 3 via the network I / F 108. The operation display control unit 115 displays information on the display panel 104 or notifies the main control unit 111 of information input via the display panel 104.

  When the image processing apparatus 1 operates as a printer, first, the input / output control unit 113 receives a print job via the network I / F 108. The input / output control unit 113 transfers the received print job to the main control unit 111. When receiving the print job, the main control unit 111 controls the image processing unit 114 to generate drawing information based on document information or image information included in the print job. When drawing information is generated by the image processing unit 114, the engine control unit 112 executes image formation on the paper conveyed from the paper feed table 105 based on the generated drawing information. A specific aspect of the print engine 106 will be described in detail later. A document on which image formation has been performed by the print engine 106 is discharged to a discharge tray 107.

  When the image processing apparatus 1 operates as a scanner, the operation display control unit 115 or the input / output is operated in accordance with a user operation on the display panel 104 or a scan execution instruction input from an external apparatus or the like via the network I / F 108. The control unit 113 transfers a scan execution signal to the main control unit 111. The main control unit 111 controls the engine control unit 112 based on the received scan execution signal. The engine control unit 112 drives the ADF 101 and conveys the document to be imaged set on the ADF 101 to the scanner unit 102. In addition, the engine control unit 112 drives the scanner unit 102 and images a document conveyed from the ADF 101. If no original is set on the ADF 101 and the original is directly set on the scanner unit 102, the scanner unit 102 images the set original under the control of the engine control unit 112. That is, the scanner unit 102 operates as an imaging unit.

  In the imaging operation, an imaging element such as a CCD included in the scanner unit 102 optically scans the document, and imaging information generated based on the optical information is generated. The engine control unit 112 transfers the imaging information generated by the scanner unit 102 to the image processing unit 114. The image processing unit 114 generates image information based on the imaging information received from the engine control unit 112 according to the control of the main control unit 111. Image information generated by the image processing unit 114 is stored in a storage medium attached to the image forming apparatus 1 such as an HDD.

  The image information generated by the image processing unit 114 is stored in the HDD or the like as it is according to a user instruction, or is transmitted to an external device via the input / output control unit 113 and the network I / F 108. Further, when the image processing apparatus 1 operates as a copying machine, the image processing unit 114 generates drawing information based on imaging information received by the engine control unit 112 from the scanner unit 102 or image information generated by the image processing unit 114. To do. Based on the drawing information, the engine control unit 112 drives the print engine 106 as in the case of the printer operation.

Next, the functional configuration of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of the present embodiment. CO ₂ converted before the data storage area 201, CO ₂ converted before the data storage area 209, the lower device management information storage area 210, CO ₂ conversion formula parameter storage area 213, CO ₂ after conversion data storage area 216, the storage unit of FIG. 1 This is realized by using 114 areas. The power monitoring battery 202 and the power source 204 are units that supply driving power for the image forming apparatus 1 (not shown in FIG. 1).

  The apparatus operation unit 206 is the ADF 101, the scanner unit 102, the paper discharge tray 103, the paper feed table 105, the print engine 106, the paper discharge tray 107, and the like shown in FIG. 1, and includes a stapler and a sorter (not shown). In FIG. 2, each function described as “module” is realized by the main control unit 111 executing software stored in the storage unit 114.

  The image forming apparatus 1 performs the following operations (1) to (8) by the functions shown in FIG.

(1)
The image forming apparatus 1 uses the data collected from the image forming apparatus 1 and the following calculation formula to convert the consumed energy and the consumed resources into CO ₂ for each job and each period.
Xn = α + β + γ + ζ
Xn: CO ₂ emission of job n (CO ₂ -kg)
α: CO ₂ emissions by electricity (CO ₂ -kg)
β: CO ₂ emission by paper (CO ₂ -kg)
γ: CO ₂ emission by toner (CO ₂ -kg)
ζ: CO ₂ emissions from other consumed resources (CO ₂ -kg)
n: Job (number of printed sheets, number of printed pages, number of copies, etc.)

Each term of the above formula is obtained by the following formula.
α = an × x
an: Power consumption of job n (kWh) (the operation unit is determined by the print settings, and the number of operations of the operation unit is determined by the number of printed sheets / number of pages. The power consumption defined for each operation unit is multiplied by the number of operations. The sum of the items)
x: CO ₂ emission coefficient due to electric power (CO ₂ -kg / kWh)

β = b (k) × t × p (k) × z
b: Paper mass per sheet (kg)
t: CO ₂ emission coefficient by paper (CO ₂ -kg / kg)
p: Paper type reuse rate (%)
k: Paper type (paper size, recycled paper rate ...)
z: Number of printed sheets (determined by the number of documents, number of copies, presence / absence of aggregation, simplex / duplex settings)

γ = (c1 × z1 + c2 × z2 + c3 × z3 +...) × y
cm: Toner m consumption per side (kg): Calculate from coverage zm: CO ₂ emission coefficient by toner m (CO ₂ -kg / kg)
m: Toner type (black, cyan, magenta, yellow ...)
y: Number of printed pages (determined by the number of originals, the number of printed copies, and with / without aggregation)

ζ = d1 × w1 + d2 × w2 + d3 × + w3 +.
di: Consumption (kg) per unit of other consumables i (For other consumables, the calculation formula for consumption differs for each consumable, and depends on the number of printed sheets, the number of copies, the number of copies, etc., for example, staple. (The number of copies depends on the number of copies, the fixing oil, and the photoreceptor.)
wi: CO ₂ emission coefficient by other consumables i (CO ₂ -kg / kg)
i: Other consumable types (fixing oil, photoconductor, staple, etc.)

Furthermore, the energy consumption and resources consumed for a certain period are converted into CO ₂ using the following calculation formula.
Y = ΣXn + η
Y: Total CO ₂ emissions during a certain period η: CO ₂ emissions due to standby power during a certain period (CO ₂ -kg)

η = (e1 × t1 + e2 × t2 + e3 × t3 +...) × x
eo: Power consumption by standby mode (kWh / h)
to: Standby time by standby mode (h)
o: Standby mode type (normal standby mode, start-up mode, energy-saving mode ...)

According to the operation (1), since the CO ₂ emission amount is calculated according to the print setting, the user can know the CO ₂ emission amount discharged by the print setting.

(2)
The image forming apparatus 1 determines the number of paper sheets to be printed, the number of printed surfaces, the number of operation unit operations, and others from the following print setting combinations input by the user.
Using these as input values of (1), the value of CO ₂ consumed by the job is calculated and predicted, and the CO ₂ converted value is displayed on the operation panel. Examples of combinations of print settings are as follows.
-Number of documents: Number of sheets, number of printed pages, number of operations of operation section, other base.
-Number of copies: The number of originals x the number of copies is the number of copies and the number of printed pages. Fluctuates due to aggregation and duplex printing.
-Paper type / size (A4 / B5 / A3...): Affects toner consumption, paper type, and power consumption.
-Color designation (color / monochrome / 2 colors...): The type of toner to be used and the operation location are determined.
-Aggregated printing: For example, when two sheets are consolidated into one sheet, the number of printed surfaces and the number of printed sheets are halved (rounded up).
-Duplex printing: The number of printed sheets is halved (rounded up).
-Staple: The number of copies to be printed is the consumption of other consumable staples. The number of operation points increases.
-Sort: The number of operation points increases.
...

According to the operation (2), since the CO ₂ emission amount of the print setting designated in advance is calculated, the user can know the expected CO ₂ emission amount before printing.

(3)
The image forming apparatus 1, in combination with the selectable print settings, predicted by each of a plurality of patterns that are preset CO ₂ emissions same manner as in (1) and (2), and CO ₂ emissions A list of print setting combinations is displayed on the display panel 104 functioning as an operation panel.
According to the operation (3), since a plurality of print setting patterns designated in advance are displayed in a list, the user can compare and select the CO ₂ emission amount for each setting.

(4)
The image forming apparatus 1 displays on the display panel 104 the recommended combination that has the minimum value from the CO ₂ emission amounts of the selectable print setting combinations obtained in (3).
According to the operation (4), since the optimum print setting for CO ₂ is recommended, the user can select the optimum print setting for CO ₂ .

(5)
The image forming apparatus is expected to have the highest CO ₂ emission amount in the combination of the specified print settings obtained in (1) and the combination obtained in (3). Compare the CO2 emissions and display them on the operation panel. In addition, it is possible to compare with other combinations and display the difference.
According to the operation (5), since the difference in CO ₂ emission amount between the selected print setting and other print settings is displayed, the user can know the CO ₂ emission reduction effect by the setting.

(6)
When the CO ₂ optimum setting of the image forming apparatus is enabled, the optimum setting is automatically selected by a combination of the print settings other than the number of copies, print size, sort, and staple.
According to the operation (6), since the optimum CO ₂ print setting is automatically selected, the CO ₂ emission can be reduced without the user being aware of it.

(7)
The image forming apparatus periodically improves the accuracy of prediction by adding a correction value obtained from the jam occurrence rate to the CO ₂ emission amount of the combination of print settings predicted before printing.
Correction by jam occurrence rate:
-Record the incidence of each jam location for each setting.
-Paper lost, toner lost, and power consumption differ depending on the jam location.
For example, when there are A, B, C, D, E, and F at the jam location, if the jam occurs in AB, the power consumption of the paper and the operation unit AB becomes lost. If the jam occurs in the CDE, When the power consumption of the toner and the operation unit ABCDE is lost and jammed by F, the CO ₂ emission amount can be defined by the jam location, for example, the power consumption of the paper, the toner, the staple, and the operation unit ABCDEF is lost.
X′n = Xn + μn
X′n: Prediction of CO ₂ emission after correction μn: Expected value of CO ₂ emission due to jam of print setting combination n (CO ₂ −kg)
μn = Σj × q
ju: CO ₂ emissions from jam location u (CO ₂ -kg)
qu: Jam occurrence rate at jam location u (%)

According to the operation (7) above, since the accuracy of predicting the CO ₂ emission amount is increased, the user can know more accurate prediction of the CO ₂ emission amount.

(8)
The image forming apparatus performs statistics on the CO ₂ emission amount for each job for each user group, and displays the statistics on the Web and the operation panel.
According to the above operation (8), since the statistics of the CO ₂ emission amount for each user group are taken, it is possible to know the consumption amount so far for the user and the group.

[Image forming system]
Next, an image forming system including the image forming apparatus 1 that performs the above operation will be described. An image forming system described below is also an embodiment of the present invention.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a network configuration example including the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a PC terminal 2 operated by a user on a network (regardless of wired / wireless) such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or the like. The image forming apparatuses 6 and 7 are communicably connected. Also connected to the LAN is a device management apparatus 4 for managing an energy saving system integrated with each image forming apparatus including the image forming apparatus 1. The LAN is connected to another network using a FW (Fire Wall) device 5 as a gateway.

  The image forming system described with reference to FIG. 3 performs the following operations (9) to (12).

(9)
If the setting of the driver of the PC terminal 2 that uses the image forming apparatus 1 is set to enable CO ₂ optimization, a combination of print settings other than the number of copies, print size, sort, and staple is sent from the image forming apparatus. The optimal setting is automatically selected.
According to the operation (9), the CO ₂ optimum print setting is automatically selected even in the printer, so that the CO ₂ emission amount can be reduced without the user being conscious.

(10)
The image forming apparatus performs statistics on the CO ₂ emission amount for each job for each user group, and displays the statistics on the Web or the display panel 104. As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of image forming apparatuses (image forming apparatuses 1, 6, 7) may be provided on the network. Further, the device management apparatus 4 collects the greenhouse gas emission amount for each operator obtained by each image forming apparatus, and totals the emission amount for each user group.
According to the above operation (10), since the statistics of the CO ₂ emission amounts of a plurality of image forming apparatuses are collected for each user group, the consumption of the plurality of image forming apparatuses in the user and the group is known. I can do it.

(11)
The parameters used by the image forming apparatus 1 in the calculation of (1) are determined from the user information held by the host apparatus 3 functioning as the image forming apparatus monitoring system based on the type and installation location of the image forming apparatus 1 (Internet Or dial up) to get the best value.
For example, the electric power company differs depending on the region, and the variable x described in (1) is different.
According to the above operation (11), since the optimum parameter used for calculating the CO ₂ emission amount is acquired via the communication line, the user can know the accurate CO ₂ emission amount.

(12)
The image forming apparatus 1 can set a monthly CO ₂ emission allowable amount for each user group, and the statistical value of (10) is within an allowable range for each week (eg, 1/5 of the weekly allowable amount, 2 weeks) 2/5 of the allowable amount
When it approaches 3/5 of the 3rd week tolerance and 4/5 of the 4th week tolerance, a warning is issued when it exceeds, and printing cannot be performed when the monthly tolerance is exceeded. This setting is an example and is variable.
The monthly CO ₂ emission allowance and consumption information for each user group is shared with other image forming apparatuses (image forming apparatuses 6 and 7) directly or via the device management apparatus 4, and Are subject to the same restrictions when printing on other image forming apparatuses.
According to the above operation (12), since the CO ₂ emission amount is limited with respect to the total of the plurality of image forming apparatuses, the user is conscious of the CO ₂ emission amount with respect to the plurality of image forming apparatuses. Printing can be performed.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, in the operation (1), the image forming apparatus 1 reads an image in advance, calculates the toner consumption from the pattern of the image data and the color designation (color / monochrome, two colors) of the print setting, and (1 There is a modified embodiment in which the toner consumption amount is as follows. According to this, since the toner consumption amount is accurately measured in advance, the user can know a more accurate prediction of the CO ₂ emission amount.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary functional configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a network configuration example of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

1, 6, 7 Image forming apparatus 2 PC (personal computer) terminal 3 Host device 4 Device management device 5 FW (firewall) device

Claims (12)

A conversion information storage area for storing conversion information for converting energy consumption required for various operations of the image forming apparatus and necessary consumption resources into the expected amount of greenhouse gas emissions;
An information collecting means for collecting information on energy consumption and necessary consumption resources associated with the operation when the image forming apparatus performs an operation;
Conversion means for converting the operation information collected by the information collection means into an expected greenhouse gas emission amount using conversion information stored in the conversion information storage area;
An image forming apparatus comprising: A setting means for an operator to input print settings;
Display means for displaying an expected greenhouse gas emission amount converted by the conversion means to the operator,
The conversion information corresponds to the difference in print settings,
The conversion means calculates the expected amount of greenhouse gas emissions according to the combination of print settings,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays an estimated greenhouse gas emission amount calculated by the conversion unit in accordance with a combination of print settings input by the setting unit.   3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the display unit displays a list of estimated greenhouse gas emissions for all combinations of print settings that can be selected by the image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the display unit recommends and displays a combination of print settings that minimizes the expected amount of greenhouse gas emissions.   The display means is a greenhouse gas calculated in accordance with a combination of print settings inputted by the setting means and an expected amount of greenhouse gas calculated by the conversion means and other print settings. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a difference between the estimated discharge amount and the estimated discharge amount is displayed.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the setting unit automatically selects a combination of print settings that minimizes the expected greenhouse gas emission amount.   The information collecting means is characterized in that it takes statistics of jam locations for each selected print setting for a certain period, and adds the expected greenhouse gas emission amount defined for each jam location from the jam occurrence rate. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a greenhouse gas emission amount is obtained for each operator. An image forming system in which the image forming apparatus according to claim 4 and a personal computer are communicably connected via a network,
The image forming apparatus notifies the personal computer of a combination of print settings that minimizes the expected amount of greenhouse gas emissions,
The image forming system, wherein the personal computer uses a combination of received print settings as a default setting of a printer driver. A plurality of image forming apparatuses according to claim 8,
An image forming system comprising: a management device that collects greenhouse gas emission amounts for each operator obtained by each image forming device and totals the emission amounts for each user group. Connected to the management server via the network,
11. The image forming system according to claim 9, wherein the image forming apparatus acquires and updates the updated conversion information when the management server has the updated conversion information. .   The image forming system according to claim 10, wherein the management device warns and restricts the use of the user group when the aggregated discharge amount of a certain user group reaches a certain percentage of the allowable amount.

Images