A new research by a Harvard University Physicist Alex Wissner-Gross says that a single search on Google generates about 7 grams of CO2 and two searches sums up the energy equivalent to boiling the kettle for a cup of tea. This might not make much impact but consider this equation when 200 million search queries are Googled every day.
His research also claimed that Google is very efficient when it comes to delivering results within seconds but not as efficient when it comes to reduce environmental impact. Here is what Google’s servers do when you search on the site.
“When you type in a Google search for, say, “energy saving tips”, your request doesn’t go to just one server. 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]
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