Energy consumption due to online activities, from streaming TV shows and movies to sending emails, accounts for 3.7% of total greenhouse gas emissions, according to recent studies.
Internet users can change their behavior to reduce the carbon footprint of online digital technologies.
According to the data compiled by Anadolu Agency (AA), "Emissions caused by digital technologies are estimated to be 1.7 billion tons per year, suggest the studies conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Purdue, Yale, the University of Cumberlands and France based Shift Project."
Watching high-quality videos, meanwhile, results in an average of 7 gigabytes (GB) of data used per hour for a total of 441 grams of carbon emissions. By downgrading video quality to standard definition, users can cut monthly carbon emissions by up to 2.5 kilograms.
Similarly, a standard video conference costs an average of 2.5GB of data usage per hour and 157 grams of carbon emissions, while disabling video reduces emissions by 96%.
According to calculations, an average of 4 grams of emissions occur by sending a standard email, though this varies depending on documents that may be attached to the email. The emissions produced by an email with an image, for instance, can reach 50 grams.
The cryptocurrency industry is yet another major digital consumer of energy. A single Bitcoin transaction consumes an average of 819 kilowatt-hours of energy – equivalent to six months of electricity consumption by a household.
