The Environmental Impact of Google Searches

paleshadows writes "The Times Online reports that researchers claim that each query submitted to Google has a quantifiable impact. Specifically, two queries performed through a desktop computer generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a cup of tea. From the article: 'While millions of people tap into Google without considering the environment, a typical search generates about 7g of CO2 [whereas] boiling a kettle generates about 15g [...] Google is secretive about its energy consumption and carbon footprint. It also refuses to divulge the locations of its data centers. However, with more than 200m Internet searches estimated daily, the electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions caused by computers and the Internet is provoking concern. A recent report [argues that] the global IT industry generate[s] as much greenhouse gas as the world's airlines — about 2% of global CO2 emissions.'" Google makes an interesting focus for such claims, but similar extrapolations have been done before about, for instance, the energy costs of sending a short email.

Comments

Re:Mod Up

[narcberry]

Sounds like your the victim of poor engineering, not hydroelectric power.

And to nitpick the article:

...with more than 200m Internet searches estimated daily...

If you mean million, say million, not meters. Are you recommending the search field be restricted in size?

Re:Wrong Comparison

[multiplexo]

It would be better if you rode the bus to the library. But that would be inconvenient. It says a lot about the issue that everybody (except all the kneejerk "skeptics" that will soon post on this story) cares about curbing greenhouse gases, but nobody is willing to make the troublesome lifestyle changes necessary to make a real difference. Instead, we nibble around the edges of the problem, with marginal changes like "shrinking our carbon footprint" (hence this story and the strong market for hybrid cars) and spending money on "offsets".

I personally boil my tea and coffee water in the microwave. I do this because it's fast, because it gets the water to exactly the right temperature (if you have one of those boiling water sensors in your oven) and because the calcium accumulation in a teakettle is gross. But it does reduce my carbon footprint, though I have no idea how much.

You are so full of shit as to boggle the mind. Yeah, you're such a huge environmentalist, you microwave your water for tea in the microwave to save energy to reduce your carbon footprint. Fuck you. Oh, and riding the bus to the library is hardly that efficient, you're still dumping a bunch of carbon dioxide into the air. If you're so concerned about your carbon footprint you should sell all of your possessions and move to sub-Saharan Africa, either that or you could kill yourself, which would reduce your carbon footprint to zero.