By Michael Blankenship, PepperDigital
Pop quiz: which industry produces a smaller carbon footprint, the airlines or IT? Surprisingly, for the first time ever, the IT industry's carbon footprint surpassed the airlines in 2007 and again in 2008. According to Gartner, the billions of people (and growing) using computers and surfing the web is generating nearly two percent of the world's carbon emissions. A study conducted by Dr. Alex Wissner-Goss at Harvard University suggests that a simple Google search generates 5-10 grams of CO2—equivalent to boiling water for a cup of tea—and browsing a Web site generates 20 mg of CO2 every second the page is viewed.
We tend take for granted that the Web is paper friendly and think of energy consumption only in terms of the power we use from our PCs. What is often forgotten is the energy required to power the data centers for all of the servers required to store information on the Web. When conducting a Web search we are querying information across many data centers around the world—each of which requires energy. Factor in the servers that house Web sites, sites that are rich in content and take longer periods of time to load in your browser, page loading errors or malfunctions, and the energy consumption is increased exponentially.
The Web is still a young technology, but we are an increasingly greener planet and it is a positive sign to see thought being given to making the Internet greener. It's especially positive sign when you consider that powered flight and the automobile industries have been around since 1903 and serious attention to improving the green health of those industries is a relatively recent phenomenon. Companies across all industries, including Internet companies, will continue to be asked to examine not only their own energy consumption but also what their customers and suppliers consume. Companies like Google should maintain a steadfast approach to reducing the carbon footprint made by the Web.
It also may be time for the World Wide Web Consortium, the international agency that defines Web standards, to consider green standards of practice for Web developers and offer an environmental certification for sites that adhere to green design. Now, during the infancy of the Internet, is the time to start thinking and acting green in order not to play catch-up like the auto and airline industries.
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