Remember all that hype about a pair of Google searches being equivalent to heating a teakettle to boiling? Yeah, never mind. It seems the Google already disputed the report that circulated across all media channels internationally, noting that the carbon footprint of a search query is equivalent to driving about three feet. The Times Online article claimed one search produced 7 grams of carbon dioxide, while Google lowers that number—while touting its own data center efficiency—to 0.2 grams.
But Google disputing the claims of a researcher isn’t the same as the researcher disputing his own claims. The article doesn’t directly quote Harvard physicist Alex Wissner-Gross or directly cite his study about the environmental impact of Web searches for support of the teakettle example. But it does sort of imply the information came from Wissner-Gross.
The excerpt in question:
Performing 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.”
Only, as And the example involving tea kettles? "They did that. I have no idea where they got those statistics," Wissner-Gross said.
The good news for Wissner-Gross is that the publicity is generating awareness for his
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