Does internet cause global warming? The answer is, “it doesn’t cause it, but does use a lot of electricity”.

120 billion kilowatt-hours. That equals a electricity bill of 7.3 billion US$. 14 complete power Plants are needed to “run the Internet”. In the USA that corresponds about 1.2 per cent of the entire power consumption. As much, as all TV-sets together. And that’s only for the infrastructure. The continuing need for more power at data centers is a growing problem, with many at their power budget limit and looking for more efficient networks.
An HP Labs scientist says the entire system should be eyed. “It has to be addressed holistically.”
These numbers are amazingly high. One can only estimate how much electricity is needed to run every single computer worldwide.

[via] globalwarming-2007

Above is chart from Wikipedia’s definition of global warming:

Global warming is the observed increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s near surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation. Models referenced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predict that global temperatures are likely to increase by 1.1 to 6.4 °C (2.0 to 11.5 °F) between 1990 and 2100.^[1] The uncertainty in this range results from two factors: differing future greenhouse gas emission scenarios, and uncertainties regarding climate sensitivity.

Scary, ain’t it? Leave your thoughts about latest global warming issues and why has our daylight savings time early?

Tags: average_temperature, Consumer, Cool, definition_of_global_warming, Earth, Educational, efficient_networks, electricity_bill, Energy, globalwarming, global_temperatures, holistically, hp_labs, intergovernmental_panel_on_climate_change, internet_cause, ipcc, power_consumption, power_plants, single_computer, surface_air, Web, Wiki

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 10th, 2007 at 11:42 pm and is filed under Consumer, Cool, Earth, Educational, Energy, Web.
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