Harvard University Physicist Alex Wissner-Gross has determined:
Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research.
This article is an interesting read. Google is very secretive about its energy consumption, and the exact locations of its data centres.
Though Google says it is in the forefront of green computing, its search engine generates high levels of CO2 because of the way it operates. When you type in a Google search for, say, “energy saving tips”, your request doesn’t go to just one server. It goes to several competing against each other.
Perhaps this is something Google could fix by improving their algorithms, or developing some kind of technology that predicts search speeds in advance so that only one request needs to be processed. But to cut Google a little bit of slack, if searching for an article saves you a trip to the library, then perhaps they’re doing the environment a bigger favour.
I like how the article concludes by pointing out how meaningless Tweets like, “I’ve arrived at the airport,” is doing very little good for the environment.
UPDATE: Google has posted a rebuttal.
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