14 DAY TRIAL // In 2012, each Facebook user added another 3.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide to our atmosphere. They did so by using the socializing network to watch videos, send messages and share photos.
This means that their ecological footprint in 2012 was the same as that of 12 lattes. Or that of 36 glasses of wine, Business Green explains.
A new report issued by Facebook shows that, between the years 2011 and 2012, the socializing network's ecological footprint upped to a considerable extent.
More precisely, each user started emitting some 18% more harmful chemical compounds than they used to in the past.
The company maintains that this has happened because ever more people are joining the network, leaving Facebook with no choice except further develop the existing infrastructure so as to keep up with them.
“More than 1 billion people around the world are now using Facebook, with more people joining the service daily. And as the number of people using Facebook continues to grow, so does our infrastructure.”
“Our challenge is to figure out how to bring Facebook to everyone while limiting our impact on the natural environment as much as possible,” Facebook writes in a statement.
In 2012, just 19% of Facebook's operations were powered by green energy. By contrast, in 2011 the company had 23% of its energy demand met by eco-friendly sources.
What's more, it appears that Facebook's use of coal energy upped from 27% in 2011 to 34% in 2012. Last year, the company also used a tad more nuclear power and natural gas in order to keep up and running.
Facebook says that it is working on remedying the situation, and is confident that, at some point in the future, it will significantly improve on its ecological footprint.
“Our long-term focus on efficiency, smart design, and energy sources means that over time we expect our emissions growth to slow, our energy mix to get cleaner, and our carbon intensity to decrease. In the near-term, as expected, our energy use and overall greenhouse gas emissions continue to tick up,” the company explains.