How Green Is Your Internet?

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The dirty side of data.

For each second of a video you watch online, a fifth of a gram of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. If you watch this video in its entirety, that's 25 grams of carbon dioxide.

Using the internet uses more energy than you might think. There are 44 million computer servers on Earth, and together they contribute 2% of our planet’s carbon emissions. How can the wired world tackle its carbon footprint?

This animation by motion designer Patrick Clair illustrates the alarming facts and figures of internet usage, and how technology companies are attempting to clean up their act.

Facebook's custom-built data centre relies on wind and solar as well as coal, whereas Google have created Google Energy, a company that invests in renewable start-ups like wind farms.

But with internet use set to soar in the next few years, will any progress in green technology be undermined by our consumption of digital media?