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The digital age has brought about ease and accessibility to millions of lives worldwide, while the growing improvements in technology have contributed to combating climate change. However, the use of technology and the internet comes with its own drawbacks.
Digital Carbon Footprint is the total carbon emissions released from digital devices and infrastructure, right from the manufacture and use to disposal. It is to say that everything you do with your electronic gadgets and the internet leaves a trail of carbon emissions which contributes to greenhouse gases.
To curb and reduce the amount of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere from digital technologies, there need to be strategies in place. One such concept is digital decarbonization.
Modern technology and digital activities (as simple as sending a text) leave an impact on the environment. They also contribute to the growing carbon emissions in the atmosphere through energy consumption and the burning of fossil fuels. To decrease this impact, tech companies, organizations and individuals adopt a method known as Digital Decarbonization.
Here, sustainable procedures, energy efficiency and green practices are adopted at every stage of digital technologies – from manufacture, operations, storage to disposal.
We can divide the carbon footprint of our digital activities into two categories:
Fortunately, you can adopt many adjustments to lessen your digital carbon footprint.
The following are easy, actionable tips that you can implement to reduce your digital carbon footprint:
Reducing the energy consumption of data centres is an important step towards making digitalization more sustainable. 5 ways to do that are:Â
Most of the population uses their phone primarily for social media. Whether it’s mindless scrolling on Instagram, TikTok, etc., watching hour-long videos, or streaming movies or shows, social media takes up a lot of energy.
According to the carbon emission tool for social media sites by Compare the Market, if you spend 30 minutes every day on 10 different social media platforms, your digital carbon footprint would look like:
Rank |
Social Media Platform |
CO2 Eq. per year |
#1 |
TikTok |
28,798g |
#2 |
|
27,156g |
#3 |
|
14,235g |
#4 |
|
11,498g |
#5 |
Snapchat |
9,527g |
#6 |
|
8,651g |
#7 |
|
7,774g |
#8 |
|
6,570g |
#9 |
Twitch |
6,023g |
#10 |
YouTube* |
5,037g |
*Note: Since YouTube tends to involve longer videos, it might have a higher cumulative emissions total.
From this data, we estimate that a total of 1,25,268g of COâ‚‚ Eq. is released into the atmosphere by a single user per year.
Daily, 5 minutes of 10 different social media platforms result in 20kg of carbon a year, the same as driving in a car for 52.5 miles. The 20kg figure is a low estimate for many people, especially since the average time spent on social media is 145 minutes daily.
Although the potential of cryptocurrency to challenge established financial systems has been commended, its effect on the environment is often disregarded. The emergence of digital currency has increased emissions from fossil fuels.
To create new coins and verify transactions on the blockchain, a process called 'mining' is used, which requires powerful computers - meaning significant energy. It is believed that the energy usage of the Bitcoin network alone surpasses the whole of Argentina.
China and Russia, two nations with the biggest Bitcoin mining operations, mainly rely on coal-fired power plants to provide electricity. This indicates that fossil fuels account for a considerable portion of the energy necessary to run mining rigs.
In fact, according to some estimates, coal may power as much as 70% of Bitcoin mining. This dependence on fossil fuels restricts attempts to switch to renewable energy sources.
The most promising approach, however, is to power mining rigs with renewable energy sources or mine operations using microgrids.
The responsibility of reducing digital carbon footprint is not just on an individual user or social media companies, but primarily on data centres and government agencies funding these projects. There are many sustainable strategies that organizations can implement to be more environmentally appealing.
The future of the environment is intertwined with technology and digitalization. It is up to us to make a difference.