Last time we looked at your fingerprint – but what about your footprint! The Internet takes a lot to keep it going: constant monitoring and expansion, then there are all the services we consume on the Internet operating in massive data-centres across the world. So lets take a small break from our privacy, security and anonymity concerns with the Internet and have a look at the footprint left in the sand from all our surfing.

With over four and a half billion active Internet users, there should be no surprise that it takes a fair amount of power and resources to maintain that and provide the services that all those users want! On the whole, (as of 2017) the Internet is responsible for at least 3.7% of global emissions – that is almost two billion tonnes of greenhouse gases a year – as well as consuming almost 7% of global electricity which was expected to triple by 2020!

Apple, Google and Facebook are definitely leading the way (according to Greenpeace #ClickClean report), but there is still a long way to go!

A standard Internet search at Google.com, for example, uses about 0.2 grams of CO2 – estimations show there are more than two trillion searches a year which is equivalent to travelling 1,785,720,000 kilometres in a non-electric car. Sending a basic email without attachments generates at least 4 grams of CO2 – estimations show there are more than 269 billion emails sent each day which is equivalent to a little over 12 billion kilometres driven in a non-electric car every day!

These numbers are based on the best estimations available today, but they are constantly changing – more energy is being provided in a renewable way but people are doing more and more on the Internet! Be mindful for your own personal usage – including your mobile devices batteries and make sure you use companies that are working towards a green Internet!

Next we’ll circle back round to a major way you probably use the net with INTERNET: Apps.

Resource: https://myhappyfootprint.com/carbon-footprint-internet/

Resource: https://www.climatecare.org/resources/news/infographic-carbon-footprint-internet/