Carbon Footprint of Internet Users in India

Carbon Footprint of Internet Users in India

  • 3nd March 2021
  • Mumbai, India
  • Climate Change | Energy

Written By: Mohamed Arshad

India is a country with almost 1.3 billion people out of which 65% of the population are below the age of 35. According to a survey by the DNA, only 10% of people are aware of the full form of the Acronym ‘INTERNET’ and only 2% of them understand the workings of the internet.

How Do We Get Our Internet?

For over three decades we have been experiencing the sensational phenomenon of surfing the web, downloading files and resources, finding answers of those curious conspiracy theories, or just binge watching our favourite TV shows and movies; but have we ever considered how the Internet works and are there any correlations between the Environment and the Internet?
Well, there is a huge environmental impact caused by the Internet. The Internet Connection works through a network of fibre optic cables within countries, between countries and under the oceans which run for countless miles between different continents across the world. There are various mobile networks, BTS (base transceiver stations) towers, satellites, data centres, and other such facilities, generating massive amounts of electricity and fuel. The Internet relies on physical servers in data centres around the world and these the data centres are in turn connected with miles of Underwater Sea Cables, switches, and routers that need the energy to run smoothly. The energy to used to run these data centres comes from Coal Power Plants which burns fossil fuels to generate energy produces massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere thus, leading to global warming.

Are We Carbon Literate or Carbon Illiterate?

Carbon Literacy is the ‘Knowledge of the price and the impacts of everyday carbon dioxide activities, and also the ability and dedication to minimise the emissions on an individual, community, or an organisational level. Being Carbon literate is a need and necessity of the current crisis and therefore it is crucial to induce Individual Social Responsibility and use limited and necessary amounts of Internet.

Internet providers wouldn’t recommend us to save data as the more data we use the more money they get.The Implementation of 5G network has proven to be dreadful to Birdlife in the Netherlands. Birds are a vital part of our Ecosystem and our agricultural food chain, they feed on worms which destroy agricultural crops, therefore, saving money on food wastage and pesticide usage.

How can we use the internet and reduce its risk on climate at the same time?

Unsubscribing from irrelevant company newsletters:
Don’t we all get indecisive with newsletters and end signing up to multiple organisations? It may be the fear to miss out on something similar in future which interests us at that very moment. We have to ensure to only subscribe to organisations which we are interested in and share similar goals with. Well, what about the rest? It may sound tediously boring yet the time given to the environment will be a time given for your future generations. So make a decision!

Greening your YouTube and OTT platforms usage:
YouTube generates about 6 billion grams of CO2 emissions every day which is equivalent to plant 36 billion trees or driving 62 times to the Moon. Yet, deleting this app wouldn’t be an easier choice to make the biggest impact. The only possible solution here could be to minimise the number of hours spent watching Videos and try to read a book or go outside for a walk instead.

Sending short and fewer E-mails:
An average spam email generates about 0.3 g CO2e. A standard email about 4 g CO2e and an email with long attachments guzzles about 50 g CO2e. Therefore, in a day Indians generate about 80,000 Kg CO2e, which is equivalent to Plant 4800 trees every day. The next time when we type an e-mail to our colleagues or clients who who could be accessed via phone call, we must think!
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Source: News Agencies
Image Source: Google