The internet has revolutionized our lives, transforming the way we communicate, work, and shop. Today, the internet is an essential part of around 5 billion people’s daily routine, and many of us can’t imagine living without it. Nevertheless, while using it we rarely think about sustainability aspects like the CO2 footprint or the energy consumption. However, with the exponential growth of the internet, its energy consumption has become a significant concern.
Why does the internet consume so much energy? The answer lies in the way it is designed. As a vast network of increasing interconnected devices, data centers and servers, every aspect of it requires energy to function (4). For example, data centers require a constant electricity supply to keep the servers running and to cool the equipment. Last year, the world’s data centers used 416.2TWh of electricity surpassing the UK’s total consumption. For comparison: 1992 the data transfer worldwide added up to a modest 100GB per day, 2002 already 100GB per second (4) and up to 3.5 quintillion bytes of data created every day, today (8). Thinking of data centers as a bathtub, there is this constant inflow of data, and only a fraction of it is deleted (outflow). For example: Currently, there are around 1.11 billion websites in the world, but only 18% of them are active, 82% being inactive (7). Therefore, the bathtub is scaled up more and more to fit all the data in, using even more energy to cool it.
According to recent estimates, the internet consumed over 9% of the world's electricity with about 3.7% of global emissions in 2022 (5) and will be accountable for about 20% of the world’s energy in 2025 and emit up to 5.5% of the world’s carbon emissions (2). This is a staggering amount, considering that the internet has only been around for a few decades. However, this can be explained using the concept of reinforcing feedback loops.
But what can we do to reduce the energy consumption of the internet? Some examples:
Increase the efficiency of data centers by using more efficient cooling systems, optimizing server utilization, and locating them in regions with abundant renewable energy
Virtualize servers and shift to cloud computing to reduce the number of servers we need
Optimize network infrastructure and protocols, e.g., minimize the number of hops to transfer data
Reduce the amount of data we transfer by using more efficient file formats or eliminating unnecessary files (Big Data → Smart Data)
Design energy-efficient websites. For example, visiting Daily Mail’s homepage generates 54g CO2 per visit while visiting Google emits only 0.2g CO2 per visit (2). Interested? Find out the CO2 footprint of a site on this website.
Recycle devices to reuse valuable material and prevent environmental harm from hazardous materials at the end of the lifecycle
Until now, we talked a lot about the disvalues in terms of energy consumption and how they can be mitigated. However, what is the value creation - is it worth it? Isn’t the internet also part of mitigation measurements regarding energy consumption and enables both intergenerational and intragenerational justice?
Yes, it is. Simple example: Search engines save trips to the library or help to find flights with low CO2 emissions. Moreover, the internet facilitates access to information, improves health outcomes and access, advances education, drives economic growth, and creates job opportunities. Furthermore, ‘Smart’ innovations are widely anticipated to help reduce energy demand across diverse sectors of society6, e.g. in the building sector. There are estimations that suggest by 2030 ‘smarter’ systems could save up to ten times the carbon emissions they generate (6). Hence the internet is not only a big energy consumer but also a great enabler for several mitigation and adaptation measures, not only for climate change but also for solutions in other planetary boundaries like land-system change (monitoring or optimizing productivity and quality) or novel entities (research and transnational collaboration).
Why is it important for businesses?
The electricity used for devices and data centers in businesses accounts to their Scope 2 (and Scope 3) emissions. Reducing the energy consumption regarding internet applications therefore not only saves money but also helps to achieve carbon neutral or net-zero goals. Most of the big internet-related companies have already recognized their environmental impact and have implemented first measures: Google, using about 5.7TWh each year (3), is already carbon neutral and has neutralized their entire legacy carbon emissions. With their 24/7 carbon-free energy program they pledge to eliminate emissions and run on clean energy every hour of every day by 2030. Apple became both powered completely by 100% renewable energy and carbon neutral in 2018. This not only includes Apple’s data centers and offices, but also their retail shops around the world.
A sustainable internet infrastructure can also lead to new business models, such as the example of Solar Protocol. Using a network of solar servers located across the globe, the content of a site is delivered from the server receiving the most solar energy at that time, and its resolution is adjusted dynamically based on the available energy (2).
In conclusion, the exponential growth of the internet has led to a significant increase in its energy consumption and carbon footprint. However, there are steps we can take to reduce carbon footprint of the internet, such as increasing the efficiency of data centers, using renewable energy, and using Smart Data instead of Big Data. While the internet has its drawbacks in terms of energy consumption, it also enables a great value creation and contributes significantly to mitigation and adaptation measures, making it an essential tool for a more sustainable world.
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Author: Maike Seifert, Student of MBA Sustainability Management Class 1 (2023-2025)
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