Revealed: the environmental impact of Google searches

Physicist Alex Wissner-Gross says that performing two Google searches uses up as much energy as boiling the kettle for a cup of teaPerforming 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 on the environmental impact of computing is due out soon. “A Google search has a definite environmental impact.”
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article5489134.ece
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,24898157-2703,00.htmlHow Google searches lead to our destruction
Every day that we eke out our survival we know that there is some actuary or scientist working out whether it’s worth us ever trying.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.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10140132-71.htmlMeasuring your Google search’s carbon footprint
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, which is comparable to bringing a kettle to boil, according to a report Sunday in The Times of London. And while that doesn’t sound like a lot, the report notes that Google handles about 200 million searches daily.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10140142-54.html