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Here is the carbon footprint of an average day of emails, WhatsApps and more</h1> </div> <div class="block block-entity-fieldnodefield-image"> <div class="field field--name-field-image field__item"> <img width="800" height="445" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-src="/sites/default/files/styles/800x445/public/2024-11/148.24.PNG?itok=UPSSDW6v" /> </div> </div> <div class="block block-author"> <div class="author-info clearfix"><strong>24 11 2024</strong> | <span>07:07</span><span class="author"><a href="/el/author/chris-stokel-walker-guardian" hreflang="el"> Chris Stokel-Walker / THE GUARDIAN</a></span><span class="author-social"><ul><li><a class="icon icon-mail" href="mailto:?&Subject=Concerned about your data use? Here is the carbon footprint of an average day of emails, WhatsApps and more"></a></li><li><a class="icon icon-linkedin" href="https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.e-mc2.gr/el/news/concerned-about-your-data-use-here-carbon-footprint-average-day-emails-whatsapps-and-more"></a></li><li><a class="icon icon-facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.e-mc2.gr/el/news/concerned-about-your-data-use-here-carbon-footprint-average-day-emails-whatsapps-and-more"></a></li><li><a class="icon icon-twitter" href="https://twitter.com/home?status=https://www.e-mc2.gr/el/news/concerned-about-your-data-use-here-carbon-footprint-average-day-emails-whatsapps-and-more Concerned about your data use? Here is the carbon footprint of an average day of emails, WhatsApps and more"></a></li></ul></span></div> </div> <div class="block block-entity-fieldnodebody"> <div class="field field--name-body field__item"><p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span class="dcr-15rw6c2" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 500; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 7rem; line-height: 5.75rem; font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: text-top; float: left; text-transform: uppercase; color: var(--drop-cap);">N</span>early 20 years ago, the British mathematician Clive Humby coined a snappy phrase that has turned into a platitude: “data is the new oil”. He wasn’t wrong. We have an insatiable appetite for data, we can’t stop generating it, and, just like oil, it’s turning out to be bad news for the environment.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">So the Guardian<em style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span> </span></em>set me a challenge: to try to give a sense of how much data an average person uses in a day, and what the carbon footprint of normal online activity might be. To do that, I tried to tot up the sorts of things I and millions of others do every day, and how that tracks back through the melange of messaging services, social networks, applications and tools, to the datacentres that keep our digital lives going.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">My own carbon tally gets off to a bad start, and it is not even my fault. The email from my editor asking me to try to quantify quite how much data a single person uses in a day is itself contributing to my footprint. If the editor took 10 minutes to write the email – likely, given it was quite detailed – and it took me three minutes to read, and if it was sent from a laptop and received on one, then we have<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://carbonliteracy.com/the-carbon-cost-of-an-email/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">generated 17g of carbon dioxide (CO<sub class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 12.75px; line-height: 0; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text); bottom: -0.25em; position: relative;">2</sub>) emissions already</a>, according to estimates by Mike Berners-Lee, a professor at Lancaster University’s Environment Centre, and the author of How Bad are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">My frantic emails to people asking to speak to them for this story pump out more carbon at a prodigious rate. And though 17g of CO<sub class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 12.75px; line-height: 0; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text); bottom: -0.25em; position: relative;">2</sub><span> </span>is insignificant compared with<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6604460f91a320001a82b0fd/uk-greenhouse-gas-emissions-provisional-figures-statistical-release-2023.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">the 384.2m tonnes</a><span> </span>of net emissions the UK as a whole is responsible for each year, it all adds up.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">All those emails and videos and games don’t just appear on our screens by magic. Everything we do digitally involves the vast transfer of data through the internet from one place to another, brokered through datacentres. Datacentres are vast premises full of computer servers that store data. The idea behind them is to reduce what the data industry calls “latency”, the time between you typing in a web address or clicking on an app button, and the content you are requesting being delivered to you. Everything on the internet, every link you click, every video you watch, is physically stored in a datacentre somewhere.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span style="color: rgb(18, 18, 18); font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">Datacentres are big business, and vast numbers of them are being built around the world. In the UK, Amazon has<span> </span></span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.aboutamazon.co.uk/news/job-creation-and-investment/aws-plans-to-invest-8-billion-in-the-uk" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 17px; line-height: inherit; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">just announced</a><span style="color: rgb(18, 18, 18); font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;"><span> </span>plans to invest £8bn over the next five years building new datacentres and maintaining those it already has, “supporting 14,000 jobs annually”. That comes on top of £3bn already spent in the UK by Amazon’s cloud computing arm since 2020. Google is<span> </span></span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/united-kingdom/google-1-billion-investment-in-a-new-uk-data-centre/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 17px; line-height: inherit; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">spending $1bn</a><span style="color: rgb(18, 18, 18); font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;"><span> </span>on a new centre at a 133,500 sq metre (33-acre) site in Hertfordshire, and at the end of last year Microsoft committed to<span> </span></span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/boost-for-uk-ai-as-microsoft-unveils-25-billion-investment" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 17px; line-height: inherit; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">£2.5bn of investment</a><span style="color: rgb(18, 18, 18); font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;"><span> </span>in the next three years, more than doubling its datacentre footprint in this country.</span></p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">The reason for this is simple: demand is increasing at alarming rates. Americans used<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/americans-used-record-100-trillion-141750734.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">100tn megabytes of wireless data</a><span> </span>in 2023, a record-breaking increase of 36% on the previous year – that’s enough to download Candy Crush Saga<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/candy-crush-saga/id553834731" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">265bn times</a>.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">It is a lot of data, and a lot of energy is required to serve that data to us, plus a lot of water to keep all those servers cool. In fact, Ireland, the Netherlands and Singapore are so worried about the energy impact of datacentres that they have<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://datacentremagazine.com/critical-environments/power-hungry-data-centres-put-pressure-on-irelands-grid" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">imposed moratoria on new developments</a>. When Google announced its environmental impact earlier this year, it revealed its own greenhouse gas emissions had<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/jul/02/google-ai-emissions" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">risen 48% in the last five years</a>, and 13% in the last 12 months, largely driven by increased datacentre demand to service its AI needs. Now big tech companies have come up with another solution to try to solve the looming energy crisis: their own nuclear power plants. Microsoft has struck a deal to recommission<a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/20/three-mile-island-nuclear-plant-reopen-microsoft" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);"><span> </span>the Three Mile Island</a><span> </span>site in Pennsylvania, Google recently announced<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/oct/15/google-buy-nuclear-power-ai-datacentres-kairos-power" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">plans to build six or seven new small reactors</a><span> </span>to meet its anticipated energy needs. There’s no way round it: a steady stream of environmental harm is coming from our everyday actions – activities that we often don’t think about in relation to the target of limiting global heating to below 1.5C.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">“You will run into this pretty much anywhere during the day,” says Alex de Vries, who researches the carbon footprint of our day-to-day lives at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands. “Digital applications are so deeply embedded in our lives nowadays, it’s really hard to avoid. The thing is, when you’re using them, it’s not like you have something popping up in the screen telling you, like: ‘Hey, be aware, this activity has this carbon footprint.’”</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span style="color: rgb(18, 18, 18); font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">De Vries also runs the Digiconomist website, which tries to track – where possible – the environmental impact of these things. That “where possible” is an important caveat. “It’s incredibly hard to figure out that information,” says de Vries.</span></p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">In the absence of reliable figures from the companies themselves, educated guesses are often all we can rely on. Case in point: estimates of the proportion of world energy use that the internet makes up range from<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200305-why-your-internet-habits-are-not-as-clean-as-you-think" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">3.7%</a><span> </span>to<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1177210/FULLTEXT01.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">10%</a>, depending on who is counting. One estimate by Zero Waste Scotland suggests all our online activity generates an average of 8.62kg of CO<sub class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 12.75px; line-height: 0; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text); bottom: -0.25em; position: relative;">2</sub><span> </span>a week (about 448kg a year), or about<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://calculator.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx?lang=en-GB&tab=4" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">30 miles</a><span> </span>in an average-sized petrol car. But a German estimate (which also includes the emissions created by the production digital devices themselves) says we expend around twice that,<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.oeko.de/en/blog/the-carbon-footprint-of-our-digital-lifestyles/#:~:text=If%20this%20energy%20consumption%20is,CO2%20emissions%20per%20year." style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">roughly 850kg a year</a>.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">People struggle with two key problems when trying to wrap their heads around their data usage and resultant carbon impact, says De Vries. One: everything is digital, and therefore not tangible. “If you’re holding a pen and a piece of paper, you can get some idea of what might be necessary to make this product,” he says. “But if you’re using a digital application, what’s really going into that to make all of that happen? A lot of people simply will have no clue what that looks like.”</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">The other issue is that the tech companies are really good at making things work. “You probably don’t even know what is in [an application],” says De Vries. You press the button, and the Netflix series starts.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Companies such as Netflix are disarmingly honest about their data usage: if you keep your video quality on “low”, you use a paltry 300MB an hour of data on a streaming service such as Netflix. If you want to watch things in HD, though, you ramp up to 3GB an hour when looking at the most detailed scenes. If you are a movie connoisseur, your 4K streaming uses up to 7GB an hour.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">But while few would argue we should spend less time in front of streaming services, the environmental impact of all that binge-watching appears to be comparatively low. A<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.iea.org/commentaries/the-carbon-footprint-of-streaming-video-fact-checking-the-headlines" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">2020 analysis by the International Energy Agency</a><span> </span>(IEA) found that watching an hour of Netflix was equivalent to boiling a kettle once: about 36g of CO<sub class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 12.75px; line-height: 0; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text); bottom: -0.25em; position: relative;">2</sub>.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">There are other variables to take into account, though: the energy consumption of the device you are watching on, for example (<a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.vox.com/2018/3/7/17094610/netflix-70-percent-tv-viewing-statistics" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">Netflix says 70% of its viewers use televisions</a>, which are more energy-hungry than mobile phones); or how the electricity you are using is generated (nuclear or wind is less carbon-emitting than coal or gas).</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">If you want to gossip about the latest episode with your friends, that also comes with an environmental toll. The average WhatsApp group chat uses 2.35kg of CO<sub class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 12.75px; line-height: 0; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text); bottom: -0.25em; position: relative;">2</sub><span> </span>a week, Zero Waste Scotland<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/resources/environmental-footprint-everything-we-do-online" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">calculated</a>. (To blunt the impact slightly, rely more on emojis – which are stored locally on your device – than reaction gifs, which have to be downloaded afresh from datacentres.) Listening to music online also comes at an environmental cost, although it is estimated that you can stream music for<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.newstatesman.com/environment/2021/11/how-environmentally-damaging-is-music-streaming" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">five hours</a><span> </span>before you will emit more CO2 – 288g – than is involved in making a CD in a case. Like many tech companies, Spotify has committed to reaching net zero emissions, in its case,<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.lifeatspotify.com/diversity-equity-impact/climate-action" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">by 2030</a>.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span style="color: rgb(18, 18, 18); font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">Big tech companies buy carbon credits and offsets to try to mitigate the impact of their activity, but it’s often seen as a poor attempt at atonement for the environmental impact they cause. There are also questions about the extent to which firms’ reported datacentre emissions are capturing the whole picture.<span> </span></span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/sep/15/data-center-gas-emissions-tech" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 17px; line-height: inherit; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A recent Guardian analysis</a><em style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 17px; line-height: inherit; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span> </span></em><span style="color: rgb(18, 18, 18); font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">found that real emissions between 2020 and 2022 from datacentres owned by the four big tech companies, Google, Microsoft, Meta and Apple, were likely to be 662% higher than officially reported.</span></p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">The tech industry’s warm embrace of generative AI has complicated things even further. It is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid. Type certain searches into Google and you will be given an “AI overview”, as Google calls them, which summarises key information from the results the search engine finds and presents it in a simple set of bullet points, alongside associated links. And you can’t turn it off. “AI Overviews are a core Google Search feature,” the company says.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">“Generative AI hasn’t necessarily added very many new use cases,” says Sasha Luccioni, AI and climate lead at AI company Hugging Face. “It’s adding more compute and more environmental impacts to existing use cases.” The problem is that we don’t fully know how much. “None of the corporates, and none of the proprietary models, have published any numbers,” she says. De Vries’s<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.cell.com/joule/abstract/S2542-4351(23)00365-3?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2542435123003653%3Fshowall%3Dtrue" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">research</a><span> </span>suggests that AI-powered search results use 10 times the power that non-AI searches do.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">All this is before you get into the conscious use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude chatbot – where you are going to their websites or opening their apps, and taking part. Here, we are also in the dark about how much data, and therefore how much energy and water, generative AI uses. The best information we have is from informed third-party estimates: training GPT-3, a precursor to the current model, used an estimated 5.4m litres of water,<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2304.03271.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">according to one academic study</a>, and produced as much CO<sub class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 12.75px; line-height: 0; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text); bottom: -0.25em; position: relative;">2</sub><span> </span>as would be generated by flying between New York and San Francisco<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2104/2104.10350.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">550 times</a>.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">I recently published a book on AI and as part of that, I have been touring and giving talks about AI’s impact on our world. In my favourite set of slides that I present there is a party trick. To highlight concerns around copyright in generative AI, I ask ChatGPT’s image generator, Dall-E, to produce a depiction of whichever place I’m in, in the style of Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">The gimmick always gets a laugh and serves its purpose: it shows how often the AI system has seen that painting by the ability to mimic its brushstrokes. But I always feel guilty. Because each time I do that, whether in Chipping Campden or Vilnius, I’m using data. About halfway through my book tour, I started adding a couple of slides immediately afterwards on the environmental impact of AI.</p> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">So besides stopping generating bootleg Van Goghs, what should those of us conscious about our environmental footprint do? Luccioni advocates for “digital sobriety”: being mindful about how we use AI. “You don’t need to be using these new AI tools for everything,” she says. “There are applications that are useful, but there’s a lot of cases where you really don’t need them.” The same approach holds true for everything digital: think twice, text once.</p> <h2 class="dcr-12ibh7f" id="your-data-diet" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 8px 0px 4px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 500; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.75rem; line-height: 1.15; font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 3px; color: var(--subheading-text); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Your data diet</h2> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Estimating how much data your daily activities use is an art not a science, but here are best estimates of how much you are gobbling up online.</p> <ul class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.75rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: rgb(18, 18, 18); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"> <li class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text); display: flow-root;"> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -1.5rem 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Listening to a podcast:</strong><span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/apple-podcasts-switch-to-streaming-will-decimate-downloads/#:~:text=Average%20Data%20Consumption%20per%20Hour,techniques%20employed%20by%20different%20platforms." style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">20-100MB an hour</a></p> </li> <li class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text); display: flow-root;"> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -1.5rem 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Watching Netflix:<span> </span></strong>3GB an hour at HD quality</p> </li> <li class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text); display: flow-root;"> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -1.5rem 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Online shopping:</strong><span> </span>Consider the data size of any images you browse, which can be big, before even thinking of the environmental impact of your delivery</p> </li> <li class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text); display: flow-root;"> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -1.5rem 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">WhatsApp text message:<span> </span></strong><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.airalo.com/blog/how-much-data-does-whatsapp-use?srsltid=AfmBOopDreq5v_Lg7jQWoAXtnkT-IKNXyLMijt9m4sJYWzNK3sk84Bjv" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">1-5KB a message</a>, on average</p> </li> <li class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text); display: flow-root;"> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -1.5rem 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">WhatsApp voice call:<span> </span></strong><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.airalo.com/blog/how-much-data-does-whatsapp-use?srsltid=AfmBOopDreq5v_Lg7jQWoAXtnkT-IKNXyLMijt9m4sJYWzNK3sk84Bjv" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">400KB-1MB</a><span> </span>a minute</p> </li> <li class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text); display: flow-root;"> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -1.5rem 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">WhatsApp video call:</strong><span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.airalo.com/blog/how-much-data-does-whatsapp-use?srsltid=AfmBOopDreq5v_Lg7jQWoAXtnkT-IKNXyLMijt9m4sJYWzNK3sk84Bjv" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">2.5-15MB</a><span> </span>a minute</p> </li> <li class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text); display: flow-root;"> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -1.5rem 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Average pre-AI Google search:<span> </span></strong><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://medium.com/@DMSYAID/unlocking-the-mystery-how-much-data-does-google-search-use-dd21fb750c43#:~:text=Google%20Search%20Data%20Usage,-Now%2C%20let's%20take&text=On%20average%2C%20a%20simple%20text,data%20usage%20will%20increase%20significantly." style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">500KB</a><span> </span>for a text-based search</p> </li> <li class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text); display: flow-root;"> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -1.5rem 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Average post-AI Google search:<span> </span></strong>No one knows …</p> </li> <li class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text); display: flow-root;"> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -1.5rem 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Sending an email:<span> </span></strong>Depends on the size of the message, but<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://mailmeteor.com/tools/email-size#:~:text=The%20average%20email%20size%20can,around%2075%20kilobytes%20(KB)." style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">about 75KB on average</a></p> </li> <li class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text); display: flow-root;"> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -1.5rem 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Sending an email with photo attachment:<span> </span></strong>As above, plus the size of the attachment</p> </li> <li class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text); display: flow-root;"> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -1.5rem 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Downloading an album on Spotify:<span> </span></strong>Depends on your audio quality, but around<span> </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.androidauthority.com/spotify-data-usage-918265/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">72MB</a><span> </span>for an hour-long album</p> </li> <li class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text); display: flow-root;"> <p class="dcr-1eu361v" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -1.5rem 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.4; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; --source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; color: var(--textblock-text);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Playing a game of Fortnite:<span> </span></strong><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.evdodepotusa.com/much-data-fortnite-download-use/#:~:text=On%20Epic%20Games%20forums%2C%20gamers,1%20GB%20of%20mobile%20data." style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: var(--article-link-text);">Between 45 and 100MB an hour</a></p> </li> </ul> <p>Cover photo: <span class="dcr-1qvd3m6" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: inherit; font-family: GuardianTextSans, "Guardian Text Sans Web", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(112, 112, 112); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">What is the carbon footprint of normal online activity?</span><span style="color: rgb(112, 112, 112); font-family: GuardianTextSans, "Guardian Text Sans Web", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;"><span> </span>Composite: Guardian Design; Getty Images</span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(112, 112, 112); font-family: GuardianTextSans, "Guardian Text Sans Web", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;"><img alt="gh" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="5a5305f1-efa6-4f5e-8747-cecb6845a654" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/the%20guardian_527.jpg" /></span></p> </div> </div> <div class="views-element-container block block-views-blockrelated-artices-block-1"> <h2>Σχετικά Άρθρα</h2> <div><div class="row js-view-dom-id-b67dfe98838b46f7cdc4c334f915b8f5093ec165574a51de2bfefd38139bdae3"> <div class="col views-row"><div class="teaser-image has-overlay"><div class="teaser-image-overlay"> <a href="/news/readings-carbon-footprint-cut-half-council-says" hreflang="und"><img width="255" height="140" alt="" typeof="Image" data-src="/sites/default/files/styles/255x140/public/2023-11/1ad_40.jpg?itok=TT56hTpi" /> </a> </div></div><div class="teaser-datetime"><strong>22 11 2023</strong> | 12:53</div><h2 class="teaser-title"><a href="/news/readings-carbon-footprint-cut-half-council-says" hreflang="und">Reading's carbon footprint cut in half, council says</a></h2></div> <div class="col views-row"><div class="teaser-image has-overlay"><div class="teaser-image-overlay"> <a href="/news/carbon-footprint-gap-between-rich-and-poor-expanding-study-finds" hreflang="und"><img width="255" height="140" alt="" typeof="Image" data-src="/sites/default/files/styles/255x140/public/2022-02/carbon%20foot.jpg?itok=ZtWwcCut" /> </a> </div></div><div class="teaser-datetime"><strong>05 02 2022</strong> | 12:20</div><h2 class="teaser-title"><a href="/news/carbon-footprint-gap-between-rich-and-poor-expanding-study-finds" hreflang="und">‘Carbon footprint gap’ between rich and poor expanding, study finds </a></h2></div> <div class="col views-row"><div class="teaser-image has-overlay"><div class="teaser-image-overlay"> <a href="/news/bitcoin-rise-could-leave-carbon-footprint-size-londons" hreflang="und"><img width="255" height="140" alt="" typeof="Image" data-src="/sites/default/files/styles/255x140/public/2021-03/kalodia.png?itok=0IoIFlqi" /> </a> </div></div><div class="teaser-datetime"><strong>22 03 2021</strong> | 10:11</div><h2 class="teaser-title"><a href="/news/bitcoin-rise-could-leave-carbon-footprint-size-londons" hreflang="und">Bitcoin rise could leave carbon footprint the size of London's.</a></h2></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="col-5 right"> <div class="block-region-sidebar"><div class="block block-block-content158c7941-79f5-4f6b-abd5-6b3b0061e888"> <div class="field field--name-body field__item"><script> <![CDATA[// ><!]]> </script> <div id="div-gpt-ad-1521539404943-0" class="ad"> <script> <![CDATA[// ><!]]> </script> </div></div> </div> <div class="block block-block-content79c1764a-39d8-40ad-a979-37894b975eae"> <div class="field field--name-body field__item"><script> <![CDATA[// ><!]]> </script> <div id="div-gpt-ad-1521539360375-0" class="ad" style="height:250px; 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