14 DAY TRIAL // I would like to preface this editorial by saying that I am fully aware of the fact that writing this piece and posting it online might make me come across as a bit of a hypocrite.
OK, maybe a big hypocrite. This is because I am a Twitter user, I have a Facebook account, and I spend about nine hours per day exploring the wonderful world of the Internet.
I do, however, hope that you'll be willing to separate the message from the messenger, and focus on the bits and pieces of information that I want to share with you.
Otherwise put, what I'm asking you to do is not make this editorial a question of “why should I be listening to someone who does not practice what she preachers, and even confesses to it.”
Instead, just listen to (better said, read) what I have to tell you, and keep in mind that I am not trying to change your behavior in any way. On the contrary, what I want is to inform you.
Hence the fact that the title of this piece is not “why you must definitely quit the Internet today and never use it again,” but “why you might want to go into rehab and cure your Internet addiction.” Emphasis on “might want.”
These being said, let's take it from the top, break it down, bring it home and become acquainted with the reasons why the Internet is not as cool, as fabulous or as drop dead gorgeous as many think it to be.
The Greenpeace Report
The folks at Greenpeace, i.e. a non-governmental organization that has offices in over 40 countries and appears to have a natural talent for slamming and shaming companies that have an impressive ecological footprint, have recently released a new report documenting how the online world impacts on the environment.
The report hit the public eye on Wednesday, April 2, and it says some not-so-nice things about a whole lot of companies that are in the business of keeping the world of the Internet in motion. Granted, the report does also mention some companies that have done a wonderful job greening up their ways, but we're not here to talk about these.
Not to beat about the bush any longer, the two Internet giants that you've surely at least heard about and that are helping mess up the planet are Amazon and Twitter. According to Greenpeace, the first gets just 15% of its power from renewables. As far as Twitter is concerned, on the other hand, the organization was unable to pin down a percentage of clean energy use.
This was because, for some reason, Twitter is surprisingly secretive when it comes to disclosing information concerning what energy sources keep it up and running. Besides, the platform proved unwilling to comment on whether or not it has until now implemented any measures to at least become more energy efficient, if switching to renewables is out of the question.
Google might have gotten a “B” on Greenpeace's green energy report card, but it still has a lot of work to do on reducing its ecological footprint. Thus, it is estimated that just 34% of the energy it uses comes from harvesting clean sources. The rest comes from coal, nuclear and natural gas. The good news is that the Internet giant is working on greening up its ways, and plans to soon have its data centers powered by renewables alone.
Yahoo and Facebook were found to have a clean energy use of 59% and 49%, respectively. Relying to green energy to such an extent might sound pretty impressive, but the fact remains that these two Internet giants must still invest time and money in reducing their use of dirty fuel and switching to renewables alone.
After learning these details about what energy sources some of the world's most popular Internet giants rely on to keep up and running, you're probably wondering why on Earth you should care about what keeps Twitter, Amazon or the like alive and kicking. Isn't being able to tweet or buy things online the online thing that matters, and that ordinary folks should be worried about?
I regret to inform you that this is not the case, and here's hoping the following sections of this editorial will help put things into perspective.
The World Is Going to Hell and Dirty Fuels Are Driving the Bus
On March 31, the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change, which is basically a group of brainiacs who spend most of their waking hours researching the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on our planet and how the changes brought about by said emissions will affect human society, released a new and rather gloomy report.
This report said that climate change and global warming were not something that would happen to the world sometime in the near or in the distant future. On the contrary, the folks working with the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change warned that said phenomena were already happening, and that things would only get worse in the years to come.
By “worse,” these researchers mean ocean acidification, rising sea levels, dwindling food supplies, extreme weather manifestations such as flash floods and droughts. According to the current President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, battles for food and water should also be added to this list.
Truth be told, greenhouse gas emission do not result from energy production alone. Thus, transportation, the industrial sector, businesses and homes, agriculture and land use and forestry also have a say in the matter. Still, electricity production is by far king and queen of toying with the natural world.
In fact, a report released by the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States says that, in 2011, 33% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions resulted from electricity production. Transportation accounted for 28%, and the industrial sector for 20%. Homes and businesses, agriculture, and land use and forestry contributed 11%, 8%, and 14%, respectively.
So What Does This Have to Do with the Internet?
Presently, some 2.5 billion people worldwide are connected to the Internet. What's more, it is estimated that, by 2017, the number of Internet users will soar to 3.6 billion. With more users will come a more complex infrastructure that will be needed to make sure that the online world does not crash and burn, and this more complex infrastructure will surely go hand in hand with increased energy use.
Unless Internet giants make sure that this energy comes from clean sources, odds are our planet's atmosphere will soon be chugging down even more greenhouse gas emissions than it presently is. Needless to say, this will put climate change and global warming into overdrive, and I am fairly certain nobody wants this to happen.
“We need to shift at Internet-like speed to a world powered by renewable sources of energy, disrupting the status quo to which electric utilities and other fossil fuel providers are desperately clinging,” Greenpeace writes in the introduction to its latest report on how the online world affects the environment.
“We cannot make the transition to a renewable powered society fast enough unless the Internet is a platform leading the world toward a clean energy future, and not building a new attachment to our dirty energy past,” the organization adds, and I for one could not agree more.
This Is All Very Interesting, but What Does It Have to Do with Me?
If you were paying attention to the previous paragraphs, and I hope you were, you surely noticed the piece of information saying that the world is now home to 2.5 billion Internauts, and that, by 2017, this number will likely soar to an impressive 3.6 billion.
Since you're reading this editorial online, you are one of said 2.5 billion Internet users. With a little bit of luck, you'll still be around in 2017, when you will be part and parcel of an online community encompassing 3.6 billion individuals.
This makes you a contributor, or, better said, a driving force behind the online world's energy consumption. Otherwise put, you (and millions of other folks just like you) are creating the demand, and companies such as the ones mentioned earlier are only burning energy to make sure that you're demands are properly dealt with. Granted, they are also making a profit while they are at it, but this a whole other discussion.
By extension, your using the Internet on a regular basis contributes to the release of greenhouse gas emissions as a result of burning dirty fuels for energy, and this helps fuel climate change and global warming. Although buying a pair of shoes on Amazon probably won't cause the world to crash and burn, having millions of people visit the online retailer's website and shop for shoes will surely make a difference.
Mind you, I am not saying that we should all wrap out Internet cables in TNT and blow them up. All I'm saying is that, if we're going to visit the online world, it's important to keep in mind that, while doing so, we are contributing to the Internet's overall energy demand. In doing so, we are, even to a very small extent and only in some cases, supporting the use of dirty fuels.
I don't know about you, but I for one am quite convinced that information never hurt anybody, which is why I wanted to share this editorial with you, guys. Once again, I hope you won't take it as a criticism of your daily online surfing agenda, or as an encouragement to go off-line forever.
It's just my take on how online companies that rely on fossil fuels are not alone in harming the planet, and you are more than welcomed to share your thoughts on it in the comments section below.