Connecting Data and Energy: the Costs Involved

Why We Need a Speed Limit for the Internet

Kris De Decker | October 2015

In terms of energy conservation, the leaps made in energy efficiency by the infrastructure and devices we use to access the internet have allowed many online activities to be viewed as more sustainable than offline.

The energy costs and the CO2e emissions that result from the electricity and diesel consumption of mobile networks globally. Source: http://www.thegreenitreview.com/2012/06/mobile-networks-could-save-17-of-global.html

On the internet, however, advances in energy efficiency have a reverse effect: as the network becomes more energy efficient, its total energy use increases. This trend can only be stopped when we limit the demand for digital communication.

<more at http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/10/can-the-internet-run-on-renewable-energy.html; related links: http://www.thegreenitreview.com/2012/06/mobile-networks-could-save-17-of-global.html (Mobile Networks Could Save 1.7% of Global CO₂ Emissions by 2020. June 25, 2012) and http://hongkong.tie.org/event/smart-citizens-smart-energy-2015-connecting-data-needs/>