The Google Carbon Cycle
January 12, 2009 – 9:22 am
“A google search produces 7g of carbon dioxide”
Two search requests on the internet website Google produce as much carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle, according to a Harvard University academic.
US physicist Alex Wissner-Gross has conducted research into the environmental impact of “googling”.
A recent study estimated the global IT sector generated as much greenhouse gas as the world’s airlines put together.
The Harvard academic argues that these carbon emissions stem from the electricity used by the computer terminal and by the power consumed by the large data centres operated by Google around the world.
An estimated 200 million internet searches are carried out each day.
[BBC]
Google says
“In fact, in the time it takes to do a Google search, your own personal computer will use more energy than we will use to answer your query.”
So what? When you Google - trees can breathe easier!
Google is a drop in the ocean when it comes to CO2 production. Doing such research on this is stupid. Jealous Harvard students 