Getting Started.
Digital devices and services are an integral part of our lives. It’s hard to imagine a life without smartphones, search engines, apps, and having a huge selection of music and movies at our fingertips. All of these things make our lives so much easier. However, you may be surprised to discover that the data that you’re sending and receiving all over the globe actually carries rather heavy baggage: an individual’s online activities are responsible for producing 414 kgs of carbon dioxide every year.
Carbonet.in seeks to raise awareness about the environmental impacts of using digital devices and the internet.
How it works: Visit the "Calculator" section on our page and answer a few questions. We perform a few calculations based on data gathered from resources to estimate your carbon footprint from digital device usage. You are always invited to contribute!
This page was created to serve as a platform for people to access our calculator, and to accumulate all resources for people who might be interested in knowing more.
The Environmental Impact of Going Online
Each search query emits around 1.45 grams of CO2. If we use a search engine to make around 50 search queries per day, this produces a huge 26 kilograms of CO2 per year. This may not sound like a lot at the individual level but a single search query billions of times around the globe adds up to leave an environmental impact that is difficult to ignore. Streaming a one hour show on Netflix consumes about 300 watt hours of electric energy. This is equivalent to driving one kilometre in a small car. Collectively, the average CO2 consumption of streamed online video is more than 300 million tons per year. This is the same as emitted by the whole of Spain in a year.
Our use of digital technologies contributes to 3.7% of global CO2 emissions, which has a bigger impact on global warming than the entire aviation industry.
An improved understanding of impacts is necessary to make solutions for accessible and solutions more unambiguous.