{"id":16487,"date":"2020-02-07T17:51:23","date_gmt":"2020-02-07T22:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.tmcnet.com\/blog\/rich-tehrani\/?p=16487"},"modified":"2022-10-14T18:26:54","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T22:26:54","slug":"the-environmental-impact-of-the-internet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.tmcnet.com\/blog\/rich-tehrani\/technology\/the-environmental-impact-of-the-internet.html","title":{"rendered":"The Environmental Impact of the Internet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Q&A with Lars Larsson, CEO of <\/em>Varnish Software<\/em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. We hear a lot\nabout sustainability in terms of the physical footprint we\u2019re leaving on the\nplanet. But how does sustainability translate to the online world?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sustainability has shot up corporate, political and societal\nagendas over the last decade. Time Magazine\u2019s 2019 Person of the Year (and\nfellow Swede), Greta Thunberg, has ferociously defended Planet Earth and called\nfor more individual awareness and governmental action to counteract the\ndevastating and cumulative consequences of our decisions on the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flying, driving, heating our homes and single-use plastics\nhave all received due attention. The aviation industry, in particular, has\nbecome a prime example of the irreversible harm caused by our jet setting\ntendencies \u2013 16,000 planes generate more than 600 million tonnes of CO2 in our\natmosphere every year. However, very few are aware that every scroll, click and\nweb surfing session also contributes to climate change and the generation of\nCO2. As we become an increasingly digital society, obsessed with same-day\ndeliveries, the instant streaming of content and bite-sized news on social\nplatforms, our usage of the web quickens in pace. So does our impact on the\nclimate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Lars Larsson, CEO of <\/em>Varnish Software<\/em><\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Q: How exactly does\nour penchant for online shopping and video streaming equate to CO2 emissions?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of October 2019, there were approximately 4.3 billion active internet users<\/a> globally.\nUndoubtedly, most of us will be using the internet every day, for a number of\nhours each day. During those hours, think of how many websites you visit or\nemails you send\/receive. Believe it or not, the average website produces 6.8g\nof carbon per page view<\/a>, according to websitecarbon.com<\/a>.\nA 1MB email, during its total lifecycle, emits 20g of CO2. Suddenly all that\nweb browsing and email tennis with friends becomes a bit worrying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With every click and page view, datacentres the world over\n(those physical spaces that house and power our favorite social media platforms\nand brand websites) consume energy. The cumulative impact of this is staggering\n\u2013 accounting for some 3.5% of global energy use. Experts suggest datacenters\nwill soon surpass the entire aviation industry in their contribution to climate\nheating. This is only going to increase unless we do something about it. And\nright now, the impact of screen time on our world has, relatively speaking, flown\nunder the radar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: How bad is the\nonline sustainability problem in reality? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s worth emphasizing that the online emissions figures\nwe\u2019ve explored here are based on our current use of the internet. But what\nhappens when we\u2019re streaming films and TV shows in ultra-high definition, in a\nmatter of seconds? While it might be exciting for users, it\u2019s a frightening\nprospect for our planet. More digital activity means more clicks and page views\nand more carbon-fuelled data centers. That\u2019s not to say we can\u2019t enjoy\ntechnology for the innovation, convenience and entertainment it provides.\nRather, we need to take a more environmentally conscious approach to how we\u2019re\nusing technology from this point onwards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
environment Earth Day In the hands of trees growing seedlings. Bokeh green Background Female hand holding tree on nature field grass Forest conservation concept<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As we stand on the brink of a 5G revolution, our perception\nof what the internet is and what it can do will shift significantly. Many of\nthe applications enabled by 5G infrastructure will no doubt benefit mankind and\ncontribute to a better, more efficient and safer world. Yet it will also\nrequire more datacentres, servers and energy. We must ensure that all these new\nservices leave a minimal carbon footprint and consume as little energy as\npossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. How should online\nbusinesses approach sustainability over the next decade and beyond?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Sweden, we\u2019ve invented our own word to convey the\nenvironmental guilt felt when flying \u2013 \u2018flygskam\u2019. Perhaps we need to invent\nour own word for the damage we\u2019re potentially doing to Earth through our online\nbehaviour, if we\u2019re going to take the issue just as seriously. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas Stocker, one of the world\u2019s leading climate\nscientists and former co-chair of the International Panel on Climate Change\n(IPCC) has stated that 2020 is a crucial year for making a dent in the climate\nchange issue. If CO2 emissions continue to rise beyond this point, then our\nmost ambitious mitigation goals will become unachievable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This leaves us with very little time; change needs to start\nhappening now to bring emissions down. Giving up the internet is obviously not\na realistic remedy, but a rethink in approach for businesses (and more\nawareness from consumers) can certainly go a long way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we start to focus more on what our online actions mean\nfor the environment, there are fortunately solutions that already exist that\ncan help businesses reduce their carbon footprint, despite investing in the\nnext giant technology leap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the fastest and most efficient ways to reduce your\nonline CO2 footprint is caching software. Through caching, digital content\ndoesn\u2019t have to be recalled or reproduced every time a visitor to a website\nasks for it. Imagine visiting your favourite news website and making a request\nto view a certain page, with the information then being fetched from a certain\nfile on a server each time you click on a new page. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caching is essentially a Xerox machine for online content.\nFrom a single copy, it can produce hundreds of thousands of copies per second\nfrom a single server. Information is usually fetched and produced from a number\nof different systems. If this process has to happen every time someone requests\nit from a web page, it would require a lot of computing power and servers, and\ntake up to 10-15 seconds before being presented to the visitor. Just imagine\nhaving to wait 10-15 seconds for your latest TV show to buffer and play every\ntime you wanted to watch it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, by storing all digital content in caching software,\ncopies can be delivered to your phone, laptop or web browser very quickly,\nwithout delay. This saves significantly on the number of servers and energy\nrequired to power websites. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For any online business in today\u2019s digital age, think about\nhow you\u2019re building your website in a way that doesn\u2019t consume so much energy\nor compute power. The difference between a website that is more environmentally\nconscious versus one that\u2019s not is huge. We\u2019ve seen websites for large\ncompanies produce up to 500 times more CO2 than their global competitors. To\nmake sure we ease the strain the world-wide-web has on the physical world\naround us, we need to make sure our habits have as little impact as possible.\nIt can be done, with a little thoughtfulness and innovation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Q&A with Lars Larsson, CEO of Varnish Software Q. We hear a lot about sustainability in terms of the physical footprint we\u2019re leaving on the planet. But how does sustainability translate to the online world? Sustainability has shot up corporate, political and societal agendas over the last decade. Time Magazine\u2019s 2019 Person of the Year<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":16490,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[2707,1850,1849,607,2706],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tmcnet.com\/blog\/rich-tehrani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16487"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tmcnet.com\/blog\/rich-tehrani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tmcnet.com\/blog\/rich-tehrani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tmcnet.com\/blog\/rich-tehrani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tmcnet.com\/blog\/rich-tehrani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16487"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tmcnet.com\/blog\/rich-tehrani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16492,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tmcnet.com\/blog\/rich-tehrani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16487\/revisions\/16492"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tmcnet.com\/blog\/rich-tehrani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tmcnet.com\/blog\/rich-tehrani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tmcnet.com\/blog\/rich-tehrani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tmcnet.com\/blog\/rich-tehrani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}