Google: Making One Cheeseburger Uses As Much Energy As 15,000 Web Searches
This story was written by Joseph Tartakoff.
What can you do to help the environment? Keep clicking away on Google (NSDQ: GOOG), according to the search engine. The company, under attack from some quarters for the amount of energy it uses, is offering some new data in its defense. The new numbers, released on Google's blog today, aim to put into perspective the amount of carbon dioxide emitted each time a person does a Google search. Not completely clear why the company decided to put out the data now, but it may still be rattled by a Times of London report earlier this year that showed that performing two Google searches could generate the same amount of CO2 as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea.
After the jump, Google's list of comparisons, including the energy required to put out a newspaper vs. the number of Google searches that could be conducted with that amount of energy. (Hint: Now, newspapers and Eric Schmidt will have something else to battle about.)
Have to say that the inclusion of newspapers on the list seems a bit unnecessary. They're in enough trouble as it is without having to have the environmentally unfriendly label leveled at them.
By Joseph Tartakoff