Clipping Board » Environmental Pollution & Change ─ How dirty the human heart is, how dirty the environment will be...
Update Date: 2009/01/12 04:33 By Pan Xun / Comprehensive Report
The world's leading search engine, "Google," has a staggering electricity consumption. Recent research by Harvard University physicist Alex Wissner-Gross indicates that performing two Google searches on a home desktop computer emits nearly the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle of British tea.
Wissner-Gross explains that Google's search engine utilizes multiple massive data centers worldwide, consuming a significant amount of electricity, which undoubtedly impacts the environment. He estimates that each Google search produces seven grams of carbon dioxide, whereas boiling a kettle of British tea produces fifteen grams.
Information Industry Emissions Comparable to Aviation
Google has always kept its energy consumption and carbon footprint calculations highly confidential, and the locations of its data centers are closely guarded. However, with over 200 million internet searches conducted globally each day, the associated electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions have drawn the attention of the scientific community.
On the 11th, The Times of the UK reported that the information technology analysis firm Gartner recently released a report stating that the information industry produces as much greenhouse gas as the civil aviation industry, accounting for approximately 2% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California also believe that data centers are among the most energy-intensive facilities.
Google has stated that the company has always been a pioneer in promoting computer energy efficiency. However, given the way Google's search engine operates, it produces a significant amount of carbon dioxide. Google is aware that this may attract criticism and is therefore making every effort to develop alternative energy sources.
Rapid Searches Lead to Increased Energy Consumption
Experts say that when a computer user types a query into Google's search bar, such as "energy-saving tips," the command triggers not just one server, but several competing servers, even those located thousands of kilometers away. Google's infrastructure sends back information from the location that generates the fastest response, minimizing delay time but significantly increasing energy consumption. Google has server centers in the United States, Europe, China, and Japan.
Wissner-Gross has submitted his research findings to the American Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers for publication and has also published them on the website www.CO2stats.com. He states that while Google is highly efficient, the company's primary concern is speeding up searches, even if it means having a lot of extra capacity that consumes electricity. Wissner-Gross also calculated the amount of carbon dioxide released by an individual using the internet: browsing a simple webpage produces about 0.02 grams per second, while viewing a complex website with images, animations, or videos increases this tenfold to 0.2 grams per second.
Source: http://tw. news. yahoo. com/ article/ url/ d/ a/ 090112/ 4/ 1ct94. html
Google Searches Equal Carbon Footprint of Boiling A Kettle
The world's leading search engine, "Google," has a staggering electricity consumption. Recent research by Harvard University physicist Alex Wissner-Gross indicates that performing two Google searches on a home desktop computer emits nearly the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle of British tea.
Wissner-Gross explains that Google's search engine utilizes multiple massive data centers worldwide, consuming a significant amount of electricity, which undoubtedly impacts the environment. He estimates that each Google search produces seven grams of carbon dioxide, whereas boiling a kettle of British tea produces fifteen grams.
Information Industry Emissions Comparable to Aviation
Google has always kept its energy consumption and carbon footprint calculations highly confidential, and the locations of its data centers are closely guarded. However, with over 200 million internet searches conducted globally each day, the associated electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions have drawn the attention of the scientific community.
On the 11th, The Times of the UK reported that the information technology analysis firm Gartner recently released a report stating that the information industry produces as much greenhouse gas as the civil aviation industry, accounting for approximately 2% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California also believe that data centers are among the most energy-intensive facilities.
Google has stated that the company has always been a pioneer in promoting computer energy efficiency. However, given the way Google's search engine operates, it produces a significant amount of carbon dioxide. Google is aware that this may attract criticism and is therefore making every effort to develop alternative energy sources.
Rapid Searches Lead to Increased Energy Consumption
Experts say that when a computer user types a query into Google's search bar, such as "energy-saving tips," the command triggers not just one server, but several competing servers, even those located thousands of kilometers away. Google's infrastructure sends back information from the location that generates the fastest response, minimizing delay time but significantly increasing energy consumption. Google has server centers in the United States, Europe, China, and Japan.
Wissner-Gross has submitted his research findings to the American Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers for publication and has also published them on the website www.CO2stats.com. He states that while Google is highly efficient, the company's primary concern is speeding up searches, even if it means having a lot of extra capacity that consumes electricity. Wissner-Gross also calculated the amount of carbon dioxide released by an individual using the internet: browsing a simple webpage produces about 0.02 grams per second, while viewing a complex website with images, animations, or videos increases this tenfold to 0.2 grams per second.
Source: http://tw. news. yahoo. com/ article/ url/ d/ a/ 090112/ 4/ 1ct94. html