Using Google Search = Damaging Earth!!

I've been thinking about this topic recently since I read an article in the newspaper showing how google search can cause damage to the Earth's environment.

According to a Harvard physicist, "performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle" or about 7g of CO2 per search. But one thing that needs to be noted is that this does not refer to a one-hit Google search taking less than a second.As a matter of fact, the folks at Google claim that each one-hit google search generates about 0.2g of CO2 and this is widely accepted throughout the world.

This research refers to a Google search that may involve several attempts to find the object being sought and that may last for several minutes. Various experts put forward carbon emission estimates for such a search of 1g-10g depending on the time involved and the equipment used. And I guess many believe that this thing happens in most of the cases when we're doing some research work on some project on a given topic.

If this research turns out to be true,I fear that some definite environmental impact is being done to the earth which may prove disastrous in the near future.

Mechanism Of Generating Carbon Emissions

These carbon emissions are generated because Google operates huge data centres around the world that consume a great deal of power.When you type in a Google search for, say, “Apple I-Phone”, your 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 you data from whichever produces the answer fastest. The system minimises delays but raises energy consumption.It is been guessed that Google has servers in the US, Europe, Japan and China.

On the other hand, Google is secretive about its energy consumption and carbon footprint count. It also refuses to divulge the locations of its data centres. And now there's a feeling of fear and anxiety in my mind that with more than 200 million internet searches estimated globally daily, the electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions caused by computers and the internet is provoking some havoc to happen sooner or later.

Google's Response to this Issue

On the other side of this issue, the officials tried to justify themselves by saying that "Google Inc. is in the forefront of green computing" and further added that "We are among the most efficient of all internet search providers."

And in their official blog they had a really super answer which could shut all the mouths but still I feel that their tone was more as if they are the ones to be accused and they are just trying to cover up the whole matter.Some excerpts of that post are here:

In fact, in the time it takes to do a Google search, your own personal computer will use more energy than Google uses to answer your query.

Recently, though, others have used much higher estimates, claiming that a typical search uses "half the energy as boiling a kettle of water" and produces 7 grams of CO2. We thought it would be helpful to explain why this number is *many* times too high. Google is fast — a typical search returns results in less than 0.2 seconds. Queries vary in degree of difficulty, but for the average query, the servers it touches each work on it for just a few thousandths of a second. Together with other work performed before your search even starts (such as building the search index) this amounts to 0.0003 kWh of energy per search, or 1 kJ. For comparison, the average adult needs about 8000 kJ a day of energy from food, so a Google search uses just about the same amount of energy that your body burns in ten seconds.

In terms of greenhouse gases, one Google search is equivalent to about 0.2 grams of CO2.

Read the full justification post by Google here.

Lets move on.

Apart from using Google Search, the Harvard scholar reveals that CO2 emissions are caused by individual use of the internet as well. His research indicates that viewing a simple web page generates about 0.02g of CO2 per second. This rises tenfold to about 0.2g of CO2 a second when viewing a website with complex images, animations or videos.

Now,I feel so inspired by this research that from now on I'll try to minimize on my mindless and infinitely long google searches.And I urge others to do the same for the betterment of our planet.

(P.S.:Its raining in Delhi, a bit and the thunder-storm last night was freaky.)

Wednesday, February 11, 2009