Strip mine media
Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog — ... media January 11, 2009 Internet zealots get a charge out of describing books, magazines, and newspapers as "dead tree media." The implication is that surrounding yourself with always-on electronic gadgets connected through a vast switching network to massive data centers represents a more environmentally friendly lifestyle than that pursued by, say, an old lady sitting at her kitchen table reading the morning paper. Whatever makes you feel good about yourself. Today's Sunday Times reports on a new study by a Harvard research fellow named Alex Wissner-Gross which concludes ...

Measuring your Google search's carbon footprint
Green Tech — Updated at 12:20 a.m PST January 12 to include Google comment. Worried about the carbon footprint of your Google searches? A Harvard University physicist says a typical search on a desktop computer generates about 7 grams of carbon dioxide. Thus, performing two searches is comparable to bringing a kettle to boil, according to a report Sunday in The Times of London. While that may not sound like a lot, the report notes that Google handles about 200 million searches daily. "Google operates huge data centers around the world that consume a great deal of power," Alex ...

How Google searches lead to our destruction
Technically Incorrect — ... Professor Alex Wissner-Gross, a physicist from Harvard, punched in a few numbers, posited a couple of suppositions, and declared that two Google searches generate as much CO2 as boiling a kettle. ...

Are We Killing The Planet One Google Search At A Time?
TechCrunch — Right now the top stories on Techmeme revolve around a new piece in The Times of London that focuses on The Environmental Impact of Google Searches. In it, physicist Alex Wissner-Gross (a star MIT graduate who is now at Harvard) posits that a single Google search generates 7g of CO2, versus around 15g for a tea kettle - something he calls a “definite environmental impact.” That sounds bad, right? There’s no doubt that Google consumes a massive amount of energy, with hundreds of millions of searches conducted every ...

Google Search Generates 7g of CO2, says Study
Search Engine Journal — ... What would you rather give up? Boiling a kettle for your tea or using Google search? You might want to give up both, as boiling a kettle and doing two Google searches will actually produce almost the same amount  of CO2, which is of course harmful to our environment. This was the findings of a study conducted by Harvard University physicist Alex Wissner-Gross which revealed that a search in Google yields 7g of CO2. This is half the amount of CO2 generated when boiling a kettle which is around 15g. ...

Scientist Reveals Google CO2 Research; Blatently Puts Planet at Risk
Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim — ... If Harvard University physicist Alex Wissner-Gross is to be believed, his most recent research has just ruined the environment for future generations! ...

Why Pick On Google? How Green Are We The People? [GigaOM]
GigaOM Network — ... By now, you must be wondering, what has gotten into Om? Nothing, really – I just wanted to give some context to Wissner-Gross’ research, which was reported in today’s Sunday Times and points out that every time you search on Google, it has an environmental impact. ...

Google Searches Are Power Hogs
Earth2Tech — ... Because Google has developed its search engine to provide you with results as fast as possible, its search queries are actually consuming a significant amount of power, resulting in substantial CO2 emissions per search query, Harvard PhD student Alex Wissner-Gross, creator of CO2Stats tells the London Times. How much is a lot? An average search on the Google emits 7 grams of CO2 — so, two searches on Google uses the same amount of power as boiling water in a tea kettle. (Update: Google disagrees with that data, and says an average ...

Is Googling Bad For the Environment?
Technologizer — teakettle“Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research.” So begins a story in the UK’s TimesOnline on a Harvard researcher’s upcoming study on computing’s environmental impact. I’m not sure what to make of that stat–is it a given that making a cup of tea is a more worthy undertaking than doing two Google searches? (The article’s in a British publication, so maybe so.) But ...

Google searches causing global warming? Err... no.
Tech Digest — ... Yesterday, the Sunday Times published an article saying that making two Google searches generates as much carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle - an act long associated with energy inefficiency. This outlandish claim comes from a Harvard University physicist working on the environmental impact of computing. Far be it for me to try to debunk a Harvard physicist, but this is mostly rubbish. Google is a company that cares considerably more ...

Research claims single Google Search emits 7g of CO2, Google rubbishes it
Tech Ticker — ... 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 minimizes delays but raises energy consumption.” Now a twist to the claim is that Google refutes it. In a blog post by Google’s Operations VP says that the “number is *many* times too high”. An average Google query takes just 0.2 grams of CO2. Via Timesonline|GoogleBlog] Advertisement: ...

Not Quite The Full Story On The Environmental Impact Of Google Searches
Techdirt — It appears that one of the big stories over the weekend was some research that apparently explained the carbon footprint of a Google search. Basically, each search is the same as boiling a cup of tea. Of course, what's left out of the article is the fact that this is rather meaningless unless compared to what the alternatives are -- and whether or not those searches also end up increasing or decreasing carbon footprints in other ways. So, if by doing searches on Google, I don't need to drive all over town to find information or buy something -- then that would ...

Google: major environmental polluter?
p2pnet news — ... “While millions of people tap into Google without considering the environment, a typical search generates about 7g of CO2 Boiling a kettle generates about 15g,” says Times Online, going on ...

Your Google search is killing Earth
Boy Genius Report — Debate global warming all you want, but no one can argue that CO2 is an extremely toxic pollutant which is very bad for our health. When we think of how CO2 gets into our atmosphere we tend to think of millions of cars whipping down highways or of factories whose smoke stacks spew black, acrid smoke while producing consumer goods. But have you ever thought of Google? Harvard University Physicist Alex Wissner-Gross has calculated that a simple Google search emits 7g of CO2, about half of what is given off when boiling a pot of tea. While 7g of CO2 isn’t an ...

Signs of Armageddon: We’re worrying about CO2 emissions of a Google search
Between the Lines — ... ). First up, the Times of London “ reveals the environmental impact of Google searches .” Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research. While millions of people tap into Google without considering the environment, a typical search generates about 7g of CO2 Boiling a kettle generates about 15g. “Google operates huge data centres around the world that consume a great deal of power,” said Alex Wissner-Gross, a Harvard University physicist whose research ...

How Much Energy is Consumed by a Google Search?
WebProNews Feed — ... Google Called Out, But Defends Itself Times Online ran an article citing several studies about Internet use and the consumption of energy. Information used for this report suggested that Google searches are responsible for a large amount of CO2 emissions. The article reads: While millions of people tap into Google without considering the environment, a typical search generates about 7g of CO2 Boiling a kettle generates about 15g. Google operates huge data centres around the world that consume a great deal of power, said Alex Wissner-Gross, a Harvard University physicist ...

Disagreement over Google's carbon footprint
Technology: Technology blog | guardian.co.uk — ... Is that Google search really necessary? It's the latest question that environmentalists are asking after the release of research from US physicist Alex Wissner-Gross. He says that a Google search performed from a desktop produces about 7g of CO2, whereas boiling a kettle releases about 15 g. Google, and a fair number of others on the internet, are questioning the figures, making it one of the most discussed issues on the internet right now. ...

Researcher Claims Two Google Searches Produces Same CO2 as Boiling Tea Water [Energy Conservation]
Lifehacker — [image] That's according to a Harvard researcher measuring the CO2 output of several Google servers "competing against each other" to return search results super-quickly. Check out the Times of London article for a (really) detailed explanation. UPDATE : As noted by commenters, Google has responded to the Times' article with a ...

How Green is Google?
Know It All — ... to a Sunday Times article that cites a Harvard study claiming that two Google searches "can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea." Not so, says Hölzle. The reported energy consumption is "many times too high," he says, in part because Google searches are so fast that the hardware doesn't have to work very long on a given query. Nick Carr was ...

Analyzing Google Searches
Green Daily — ... monitor, you could use the custom dark-screen google search blackle. Other options include smaller, more energy efficient workstations, or, in some cases picking up a paper dictionary or phone book to find your answer. How many google searches did I perform to write this piece? I'm not telling. Analyzing Google Searches originally appeared on Green Daily on Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:45:00 EST 0. Please see our terms for use of feeds.   Read | Permalink | Email this |  ...

Green-minded Google Gets Red-faced Over Search Energy Consumption Claims
eWeek - RSS Feeds — ... for clean, green IT and green computing for Google Web services. Harvard University physicist Alex Wissner-Gross says that Google uses a lot of energy. Specifically, two Google searches on a computer can generate almost the same amount of CO2 (carbon dioxide) as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea. When you consider the millions of Google searches users do daily, that's a lot of boiled water. Google proceeds to throw cold water on the metrics. A Harvard University physicist told the Times that executing two ...

Google Efficiency Claim Not Everyone's Cup Of Tea
InformationWeek - All Stories And Blogs — Google claims its Web searches are more energy efficient than media reports suggest, and the scientist whose work was used to disparage Google's green image agrees. A report in The Sunday Times quotes Harvard physicist Alex Wissner-Gross' claims that "performing two ...

Google Disputes The Times Online UK’s Claim About Environmental Impacts On Search Queries
Pulse2 - Technology News And Reviews — ... - One Google search amounts to 0.2 grams of CO2, not the 7 grams that the Times mentioned. - The EU standard for tailpipe emissions is 140 grams of CO2 per km driven.  For every 0.6 miles that a car drives, it produces the same amount of CO2 as one thousand Google searches. Between the two articles, I’d believe Google as being the most accurate.  There is only so much information about the company that the Harvard physicist had, but good try though. [Reference: Times Online UK] ...

The Power of Search
Changing Way — ... Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, reported the Sunday Times. There’s no need to tell you which Times, since the quantification is so very English. ...

Google Pushes Back Hard On Claims They're Hurting The Environment
AppScout — I have been looking for a word to describe Google's usual corporate voice. Circumspect. They hold their cards close to the vest and seldom comment publicly. That's what makes the latest entry in the "Official Google Blog" so unusual and unexpected. Google is pushing back against a claim web searches are environmentally unfriendly because Google uses so much electricity. The original accusation came in the Sunday Times of London in a story headlined: "Revealed: the environmental impact of Google searches. Physicist ...

Revealed: The Times Made Up That Stuff About Google And The Tea Kettles
TechCrunch — ... Yesterday an article in The Times of London set the web abuzz over new findings that every Google search contributed 7 grams of CO2 to the atmosphere - half the amount produced when heating a tea kettle (heaven forbid!). I ...

Roundup: Balderton’s new fund, Google’s “environmental impact” and more
VentureBeat — ... have a significant environmental impact — Despite a report to the contrary in the Times of London. ...

Scientist slams newspaper for Google report
Green Tech — A report in The Times of London on Sunday generated a firestorm when Harvard physicist Alex Wissner-Gross was identified as saying a typical Google Web search on a desktop computer generates about 7 grams of carbon dioxide, making two searches comparable to bringing a tea kettle to boil. "A Google search has a definite environmental impact," Wissner-Gross was quoted as telling the newspaper. Problem is, Wissner-Gross tells ...

Who Cares About the Carbon Cost of a Google Search?
Fast Company - Technology — ... that estimate is inflated. Alex Wissner-Gross, the Harvard scientist quoted in the Times , says that singling out Google was the paper's agenda, not his, and that the publication made up its figures. Can anything be learned from this journalistic debacle? The Times article purports to reveal the "environmental impact" of Googling stuff, and quotes a scientist from the Berkeley National Laboratory as saying that "Data centres [sic] are among the most energy-intensive facilities imaginable." Also, the article cites a bit of Gartner [ ...

Google searches bad for the environment? Say it ain't so!
Core77 — ... But it is, according to Harvard University physicist Alex Wissner-Gross, who points out that "Google operates huge data centres around the world that consume a great deal of power." Examining his research, the Times Online concludes that "performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea," sending CO2 into the atmosphere. They elaborate: ...

Google To Take Its Servers to the High Seas?
Fast Company - Technology — ... The idea makes a lot of sense, from Google's point of view: Its data centers consume massive amounts of electricity, which unavoidably involves coal-fired plants. Going green with tidal or wind energy stands to save the company cash--and, of course, karma points are a bonus. ...

Google: Making One Cheeseburger Uses As Much Energy As 15,000 Google Searches
paidContent — ... some new data in its defense. The new numbers, released on Google's blog today, aim to put into perspective the amount of carbon dioxide emitted each time a person does a Google search. Not completely clear why the company decided to put out the data now, but it may still be rattled by a Times of London report earlier this year that showed that performing two Google searches could generate the same amount of CO2 as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea. ...

Apple & Amazon rated at bottom of climate change scorecard (and what about ebooks?)
TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home — ... say if this is a nationwide phenomena. But my current hosting service (which hosted Teleread between 2006 and 2008) uses a data center which had no information about whether its energy was generated by renewable resources. When I emailed my hosting service about whether its data center were green, they said they had no idea. Umbra Fisk recently wrote about the idea of green hosting, referring readers to this list of recommended green hosting. Here is an fascinating piece by Jonathan Leake and Richard Woods about what kind of carbon footprint a ...