Searches on Google make up about 40% of the internet’s carbon footprint, which itself equals the emissions of the aviation industry, according to researcher Joanna Moll. It’s Energy for servers, undersea cables, routers and switches comes from carbon dioxide-emitting fossil-fuel power sources. The internet is a huge source of greenhouse gas emissions, but it also makes us smarter. The research concentrated on Google because of its size, but among other online businesses Facebook has admitted that its operations generate similar emissions to 77,500 US homes.
Searches on Google make up about 40% of the internet’s carbon footprint, which itself equals the emissions of the aviation industry, according to researcher Joanna Moll. Energy for servers, undersea cables, routers and switches comes from carbon dioxide-emitting fossil-fuel power sources. The internet is a huge source of greenhouse gas emissions, but it also makes us smarter. The research concentrated on Google because of its size, but among other online businesses Facebook has admitted that its operations generate similar emissions to 77,500 US homes.