Your browsing affects the Internet’s carbon footprint
Some of you might think, “The internet isn't even a physical thing. How can it have something like a carbon footprint? How can this be possible?”
You’d be surprised.
Just as humans went through the bronze age, iron age and industrial age, we are currently living in the digital age.
Most people in the world are now using digital technology like smartphones, laptops, personal computers, smart watches, video game consoles and many other similar technologies. And almost all these pieces of tech have access or are connected to the internet.
That’s a lot of people using a lot of electricity, and that’s not even taking into account the servers used to store the data that is accessed via the internet. So while the internet itself is not a physical thing, it does take millions to billions of pieces of physical technology to support it, maintain it and keep it going.
And so, although the internet is not a physical thing, all those internet searches, social media use, streaming, cloud storage and emails, needs resources, i.e. electricity and a lot of it! As of right now, we still mostly depend on fossil fuel (like coal, gasoline, etc.) that produce greenhouse gases to produce electricity to power this technology.
There are an estimated 4.57 billion people logged on and using the internet at any given time.
All those people, using all that energy, it adds up.
To give a very rough estimation of impact, if we take into account all our gadgets, the internet and the technology used to support it, about 3.7 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions are due to these. As computed by a researcher at Lancaster University named Mike Hazas, that’s about the same as the carbon footprint that the airline industry all over the world has! What’s more, that number is expected to double by 2025.
Let’s shift perspectives: if we were to take the approximately 1.6 billion tons of estimated greenhouse gas emissions produced by manufacturing and running all digital technologies, and then very roughly divide it up amongst all the internet users in the world, that would mean that each user is producing 414kg of carbon dioxide per year!
The problem is, that isn’t even a fair estimate to make. Why? Because (let’s face it) people in different parts of the world use a disproportionate amount of the internet as compared to others, especially when you compare users in a first-world country to those in a developing nation.
Another problem that occurs when trying to measure the carbon footprint of the internet is when you consider what should be added to this number. Few people agree on what should and shouldn’t be included. Do we include the emissions created when manufacturing digital hardware? What about the staff and buildings of tech companies? Not to mention, many digital companies nowadays are making a concerted effort to generate power via renewable energy, and some are investing in carbon off-sets to make their energy use more green.
Despite this, we cannot deny that there are parts of the world that continue to use fossil fuel to generate the power they need. And let’s say an individual wants to use data centers that only uses clean energy; how does a user go about choosing that? Will it be beneficial to them? Will it be possible for them? Maybe their options are limited, what then?
Well, for the sake of this piece, we’ll be focusing mostly on the technology and services that are directly related to the internet and inter use.
Now, let’s break it down.
How much energy do they need and how much greenhouse gas do they emit?
Emails: According to Mike Berners-Lee from Lancaster University, an email can emit 4 to 50 grams depending on the size of the mail and how many people receive it. A one-megabyte email emits about 20 grams of CO2 or the same as when an old 60-watt lamp is on for 25 minutes. Sending 20 such emails a day for a year emits as much CO2 as a car travelling 1000 km. It should be noted though, that Berners-Lee’s calculations are from ten years ago. That figure might have changed since then.
Web Searches: A typical web search emits about 0.2 to 0.8 grams of CO2. It would take 5000 searches or 14 searches per day, for one to reach 1kg of CO2. That is the same as driving a fossil-fuel run car about 4.46 km.
A year of web-browsing: The average internet user uses about 365 kWh of electricity and 2,900 litres of water. That is the equivalent of emitting as much CO2 as when you travel 1400 km by car.
Instant Messaging/Texting: A text generates about 0.014g of CO2. Sending a message via a service like WhatsApp or Facebook messenger generates a little less carbon than an email (estimated), but this depends on its contents, like if you’re sending gifs, emojis or images. And of course, the further the message needs to travel, the more carbon it will produce.
Of course when we talk about all of this, we cannot ignore…
The benefits
Having a video meeting via the internet produces much less carbon than travelling to a single meeting place via car or other motor vehicle. It is especially useful when participants need to meet when, say, they live in another city or country. Also, texting uses much less power and produces much less carbon than a phone call.
Remember, using emails is much better for the environment than using paper and offsets a lot of carbon production via paper production and posting letters (taking into account how a single letter can travel thousands of miles via air, boat and land to reach its destination).
So what do we take home from this?
The answer is the same as with most things in life, practice moderation. Here are a few more things you can do:
- Limit the amount of time you are in front a screen and on the internet.
- Turn off your digital appliances when you don’t need them or are not using them.
- Unsubscribe from any newsletters that you have pretty much stopped reading.
- Some apps might use your internet in the background. You can experiment with your settings to set your phone such that these apps don’t use the internet in the background when you are not using them.
- Delete any unnecessary apps from your phone.
- Whenever possible, use your wifi over your mobile data. Mobile data tends to use more power than wifi and this inadvertently produces more carbon.
Some of you might think, “The internet isn't even a physical thing. How can it have something like a carbon footprint? How can this be possible?”
You’d be surprised.
Just as humans went through the bronze age, iron age and industrial age, we are currently living in the digital age.
Most people in...
Some of you might think, “The internet isn't even a physical thing. How can it have something like a carbon footprint? How can this be possible?”
You’d be surprised.
Just as humans went through the bronze age, iron age and industrial age, we are currently living in the digital age.
Most people in the world are now using digital technology like smartphones, laptops, personal computers, smart watches, video game consoles and many other similar technologies. And almost all these pieces of tech have access or are connected to the internet.
That’s a lot of people using a lot of electricity, and that’s not even taking into account the servers used to store the data that is accessed via the internet. So while the internet itself is not a physical thing, it does take millions to billions of pieces of physical technology to support it, maintain it and keep it going.
And so, although the internet is not a physical thing, all those internet searches, social media use, streaming, cloud storage and emails, needs resources, i.e. electricity and a lot of it! As of right now, we still mostly depend on fossil fuel (like coal, gasoline, etc.) that produce greenhouse gases to produce electricity to power this technology.
There are an estimated 4.57 billion people logged on and using the internet at any given time.
All those people, using all that energy, it adds up.
To give a very rough estimation of impact, if we take into account all our gadgets, the internet and the technology used to support it, about 3.7 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions are due to these. As computed by a researcher at Lancaster University named Mike Hazas, that’s about the same as the carbon footprint that the airline industry all over the world has! What’s more, that number is expected to double by 2025.
Let’s shift perspectives: if we were to take the approximately 1.6 billion tons of estimated greenhouse gas emissions produced by manufacturing and running all digital technologies, and then very roughly divide it up amongst all the internet users in the world, that would mean that each user is producing 414kg of carbon dioxide per year!
The problem is, that isn’t even a fair estimate to make. Why? Because (let’s face it) people in different parts of the world use a disproportionate amount of the internet as compared to others, especially when you compare users in a first-world country to those in a developing nation.
Another problem that occurs when trying to measure the carbon footprint of the internet is when you consider what should be added to this number. Few people agree on what should and shouldn’t be included. Do we include the emissions created when manufacturing digital hardware? What about the staff and buildings of tech companies? Not to mention, many digital companies nowadays are making a concerted effort to generate power via renewable energy, and some are investing in carbon off-sets to make their energy use more green.
Despite this, we cannot deny that there are parts of the world that continue to use fossil fuel to generate the power they need. And let’s say an individual wants to use data centers that only uses clean energy; how does a user go about choosing that? Will it be beneficial to them? Will it be possible for them? Maybe their options are limited, what then?
Well, for the sake of this piece, we’ll be focusing mostly on the technology and services that are directly related to the internet and inter use.
Now, let’s break it down.
How much energy do they need and how much greenhouse gas do they emit?
Emails: According to Mike Berners-Lee from Lancaster University, an email can emit 4 to 50 grams depending on the size of the mail and how many people receive it. A one-megabyte email emits about 20 grams of CO2 or the same as when an old 60-watt lamp is on for 25 minutes. Sending 20 such emails a day for a year emits as much CO2 as a car travelling 1000 km. It should be noted though, that Berners-Lee’s calculations are from ten years ago. That figure might have changed since then.
Web Searches: A typical web search emits about 0.2 to 0.8 grams of CO2. It would take 5000 searches or 14 searches per day, for one to reach 1kg of CO2. That is the same as driving a fossil-fuel run car about 4.46 km.
A year of web-browsing: The average internet user uses about 365 kWh of electricity and 2,900 litres of water. That is the equivalent of emitting as much CO2 as when you travel 1400 km by car.
Instant Messaging/Texting: A text generates about 0.014g of CO2. Sending a message via a service like WhatsApp or Facebook messenger generates a little less carbon than an email (estimated), but this depends on its contents, like if you’re sending gifs, emojis or images. And of course, the further the message needs to travel, the more carbon it will produce.
Of course when we talk about all of this, we cannot ignore…
The benefits
Having a video meeting via the internet produces much less carbon than travelling to a single meeting place via car or other motor vehicle. It is especially useful when participants need to meet when, say, they live in another city or country. Also, texting uses much less power and produces much less carbon than a phone call.
Remember, using emails is much better for the environment than using paper and offsets a lot of carbon production via paper production and posting letters (taking into account how a single letter can travel thousands of miles via air, boat and land to reach its destination).
So what do we take home from this?
The answer is the same as with most things in life, practice moderation. Here are a few more things you can do:
- Limit the amount of time you are in front a screen and on the internet.
- Turn off your digital appliances when you don’t need them or are not using them.
- Unsubscribe from any newsletters that you have pretty much stopped reading.
- Some apps might use your internet in the background. You can experiment with your settings to set your phone such that these apps don’t use the internet in the background when you are not using them.
- Delete any unnecessary apps from your phone.
- Whenever possible, use your wifi over your mobile data. Mobile data tends to use more power than wifi and this inadvertently produces more carbon.
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