Google-Harmful to the environment
| Ms. Nidhi Goyal 07MCA16,TYMCA |
Yes it is true; researchers have discovered and proved this.
Dr Alex Wissner-Gross, a physicist from Harvard University who is leading research into the subject has calculated the CO2 emissions caused by individual use of the internet. His research indicates that viewing a simple page generates about 0.02g of CO2 per second and it rises tenfold to about 0.2g of CO2 a second while viewing a website with complex images, animations or videos.
He has submitted his research for publication by the US Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and has also set up a website www.CO2stats.com.
Though Google says it is in the forefront of green computing, its search engine generates high levels of CO2. According to new research, performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as making a cup of tea. A typical search generates about 7g of CO2 whereas boiling a kettle generates about 15g.Without considering the environment we people simply tap into Google for even small things.
How is it possible for a simple Internet search to produce so much CO2?
"Google are very efficient but their primary concern is to make searches fast and that means they have a lot of extra capacity that burns energy." When we type in a Google search for, say, "Google-threat to Earth", our request doesn't go to just one server. It goes to several competing against each other. It may even be sent to servers thousands of miles apart. Google's infrastructure sends us data from whichever produces the answer fastest. The system minimizes delays but raises energy consumption. Google has servers in the US, Europe, Japan and China.
On his website, CO2stats.com, Dr Wissner-Gross wrote: "Websites are provided by servers and are viewed by visitors.'
"These servers, clients and networks all require electricity in order to run, electricity that is largely generated by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas. When fossil fuels are burned, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, which contributes to climate change."
Google doesn't seem to be happy with the negative publicity the latest Harvard research brings. Only hours after the initial publishing, Google posted on their official blog an article explaining that it takes "seriously" the impact its technology has on the environment but they claim that they had designed and built "the most energy efficient data centers in the world". They also said that our own personal computer uses more energy than they use to answer our query.
Google also says that driving a car for a kilometer (0.6 miles) equates to the same amount of CO2 produced by a thousand of our Google searches.
In 2007 an energy-saving search engine called Blackle was launched. It uses Google's custom search engine, but employs a black screen because, according to its creators, tests revealed that black screens consume less energy than white screens. www.google.com www.blackle.com www.alexwg.org
Millions of people are rushing to make their lives more eco-friendly from recycling programs to LEED-certified buildings to hybrid cars.But despite our best efforts to go green, we may be harming the environment by doing something we likely do every single day: using Google.
So is Googling bad for the environment or not?
Well, Google definitely has an impact over the environment, due the large amounts of energy it uses in its data centers around the world. But as Google points out, in comparison to other industries (such as the automobile), the effects it has over the environment are comparably lower. The only thing left to see is how good to the planet Google will be as years go by and even more people gain access to the Internet.