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In fact, from 2010 to 2013, the ECONET (low Energy COnsumption NETworks) project took place, which was co-funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme. The desire to become a greener Internet isn’t anything new.

What can be done to make the Internet green For example, microwaving a bag of popcorn for 4 minutes produces about 30% of the carbon emissions that watching an hour of streamed content does.

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However, it is worth pointing out that the streaming and TV industries contribute far less than others. And given how YouTube currently has more than 2.4 billion users globally, this carbon footprint is undoubtedly bigger. In the case of YouTube, a 2016 study carried out by Bristol University calculated that streaming videos from 1.4 billion users produced CO2e of more than 11 million tonnes a year, similar to Frankfurt, Germany, or Glasgow, Scotland. Thanks to the bandwidth-heavy services of Netflix, Facebook, YouTube, and the gaming companies Activation Blizzard and Epic Games, the growth in Internet traffic is now off the charts, with as much as 80% of the data capacity going to these aforementioned players. This can result in data centers wasting 90% or more of the electricity they pull off the electrical grid. This means companies continue to run their facilities at maximum capacity, no matter the demand or the time of day. And according to The New York Times, most data centers consume incredible amounts of energy in very wasteful ways. While most companies typically don’t reveal the locations of their data centers for privacy reasons, it’s become widely accepted that data centers are responsible for almost 30% of the Internet’s energy requirements. This is enough to power around 80,000 households in the US. Studies show that some of the world’s largest data centers can each contain many tens of thousands of IT devices, requiring more than 100 megawatts (MW) of power capacity. It has to be produced, housed, and made available to everyone through something called a “data center” or “data processing unit.”Ī data center simply refers to a large facility with dedicated space, data communication lines, power supplies, and backup systems. Contrary to popular belief, this data doesn’t just exist on its own. This means that every webpage you open, song you download, or video you watch consists of data. Only then can we discover the current solutions available, including what Namecheap is doing, to combat it. While the answer to this is tricky and not exactly straightforward, it’s essential to explore the issue first. So what does this mean? Should we stop using the Internet for the sake of a greener planet?

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Thirty minutes of streaming videos emit between 28 and 57g of CO2e while binge-watching a 10-hour series on Netflix uses the same energy as charging a smartphone 145 times. While many of us are aware that following a plant-based diet or reducing our reliance on cars and flights can significantly reduce our carbon footprint, many are blissfully unaware that the Internet we consume also causes major climate-damaging CO2e (Carbon Dioxide Equivalent). Climate change is arguably the biggest problem we face today.

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