If the cost of operation is minimized and transferred to at the time of purchase, it will just make people buy MORE hardware, not less. Instead of realizing that money in operations, it will be shifted to purchase of increasingly more amounts of hardware as the primary mode of competition.

Building the hardware could maybe be optimized, but is unlikely to be energy efficient or environmentally friendly. At least with energy you can optimize the point source of pollution at the source, and as such use sources of energy that are renewable or environmentally friendly.

This scheme seems to be robbing Peter to pay Paul.