The Internet Isn’t As Green As You Think It Is

Based on an episode of BBC’s podcast “The Climate Question”

The big tech firms of the world, especially the industrial titans of the digital age, such as Facebook, Microsoft, and Alphabet have reported record profits during the lockdown; a combined profit of more than 62 billion in profit in the past 3 months (which is almost twice of Nigeria’s budget)! Their ability to manipulate vast quantities of data is revolutionising, well, everything. From streaming games and movies to automating mining operations, controlling medical devices and even simple emails, the internet has brought incredible advances right across the globe. However, we have also learnt about how previous industrial revolutions driven by fossil fuels placed a huge burden on the planet, so is this one any different?

Most of us use the Internet largely oblivious to the complex infrastructure of cables, fibres, computers, data centres, routers, servers, repeaters, satellites, radio masts and energy needed to keep it running. However, the internet is not as invisible as we think it is and uses more energy than we might realise; as powerful as the Internet is, it also takes a lot of power to build, install and run the web of infrastructure that supports it. This in turn releases its own carbon footprint into the atmosphere, contributing to the climate crisis.
As the scale of the Internet and its infrastructure grows, we should no longer ignore these environmental impacts.

To illustrate this with an example, according to IT infrastructure expert, Dr Rabih Bashroush, to post one image to his/her millions of followers on social media, a celebrity like Cristiano Ronaldo consumes around 56 megawatt-hours, enough electricity to power ten typical British households for a year.
In addition, he also calculated that the seven billion plays clocked up by just one music video on YouTube- consumed as much electricity as Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Somalia, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic put together in a single year. “The total emissions for streaming that song could be over 250,000 tones of carbon dioxide,” he says.

The carbon footprint of our gadgets, the internet and the systems supporting them (data centres) account for about 4% of global greenhouse emissions, being responsible for roughly one billion tonnes of greenhouse gases a year, according to some estimates. It is similar to the amount produced by the airline industry globally, explains Mike Hazes, a researcher at Lancaster University. And these emissions are predicted to double by 2025.

The main contributors from the tech industry toward climate change are data centers, centers with rows and rows of stacked energy-intensive computer servers that facilitate the networking of our devices at home. Data centers have many technical components to them, such as routers, switches, security devices, storage systems, servers and more. These not only require a lot of energy to manufacture, power and maintain, accumulating high amounts of emissions, but they also generate a lot of excess heat which requires additional cooling systems.

Similarly, as illustrated in the examples above, every click, every page refreshed, and every email sent, produces carbon emissions too. Each person’s internet usage emits a small amount of approximately 0.004 kg of CO2, which does not seem to be a huge amount. However, with 150,000,000 emails being sent around the world in 1 minute, it emits a staggering amount of 60,000 kg of CO2.

There is no denying that the internet plays an integral role in our everyday life. Its rapid growth is mainly due to the many benefits it brings to our life; this includes better communication, increased convenience and a reduction in paper waste. However, unlike materialistic goods, the by-product of using the internet can’t be seen and it becomes easy for many of us to adopt the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality and become oblivious to its harmful impact on our environment.

Growing digitalization isn’t in our control, but that is why there is an increasing importance for companies to take steps to responsibly operate.
At the end of the day, climate change is going to impact their lives as well. Luckily,

Global companies like Facebook and Amazon are working towards data center solutions. These companies aim to have energy-efficient data centers that are powered by 100% renewable energy as soon as 2040 to help reduce the carbon impact internet usage imposes on the environment.

For instance, we can take the example of Facebook. Its data centers in Sweden completely rely on hydropower for their operation. In addition, they use the energy they emit to heat households and greenhouses in the region.

Microsoft aims to be carbon neutral by 2040, along with Amazon, which plans on ordering electric vehicles to deliver all products. Search services are also planning to plant a tree per search.

As much as these companies seem to appear environmentally friendly, however, they still have a lot of work to do in many developing countries, where sustainable power is not prevalent. This is also true for countries with a naturally hot climate, where centers would require even more energy for cooling. Also, taking the help of several behavioral psychologists, social media companies repeatedly try to increase the time spent on the app, by customizing algorithms, ensuring that people don’t get bored of their content. This is detrimental to the environment, because the more content you load and interact with, the more carbon emissions you emit.

Companies are doing research on how they can make servers more efficient- operating without consuming too much energy, but feasibility is another thing that will take time and more solutions will only be brought gradually. For now, companies should be encouraged to be transparent about their energy consumption. Just like how you’re aware of it when you buy any appliance, on the same terms consumers should know the energy they consume online so that they can make an informed decision.

But in the meanwhile, we should become responsible internet users, starting by spreading more awareness about the green effect of scrolling.

Secondly, simply upgrading our equipment less often is one way of cutting the carbon footprint of our digital technology; the greenhouse gasses emitted while manufacturing and transporting these devices can make up a considerable portion of the lifetime emissions from a piece of electronics. In fact, one study at the University of Edinburgh found that extending the time you use a single computer and monitors from four to six years could avoid the equivalent of 190kg of carbon emissions.

Third, unsubscribing from mailing lists we no longer read is another easy way to reduce our digital carbon footprints. According to estimates by antispam service Cleanfox, the average user receives 2,850 unwanted emails every year from subscriptions, which are responsible for 28.5kg (63lbs) CO2e.
More than anything, however, streaming online videos accounts for the biggest chunk of the world’s internet traffic – 60% – and generates 300m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, which is roughly 1% of global emissions, according to The Shift Project. This is because, as well as the power used by devices, energy is consumed by the servers and networks that distribute the content. Cutting back from playing videos unintentionally on an open browser when you are not watching, could help keep your carbon footprint down.

In conclusion, you would’ve now realised that being online does not necessarily mean that climate change is being completely tackled. Therefore, it is all the more important to be eco friendly in all other aspects of life be it reusing, reducing and recycling waste, conserving water, limiting your electricity usage etc.

As the world develops and digitalises rapidly, we as responsible citizens should be aware of the carbon footprint we emit every day, and strive to improve any way we can. Small habits every day can create a lifelong impact and can prevent the world from fast-forwarding climate change.