ivixlog

This is lies

Two search requests on the internet website Google produce as much carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7823387.stm

This “Harvard University academic”, Alex Wissner-Gross, has also created this highly dubious service:

http://www.co2stats.com/about.php

CO2Stats is very smart, and is able to capture a large amount of data about your site’s total energy consumption. For example, it can tell what make and model of computer your visitor is using, what its electrical consumption is, and even what types of fossil fuels are being burned in order to power that computer. Likewise, it is able to detect how much and what type of energy your server is using, and even how much and what type of energy is being used to power the networks that are connecting your visitors’ computers with your servers. 

Errrm, ok. This is plainly completely made up. I’m all for reducing energy consumption but that kind of snake oil environmentalism actually hinders more than it helps, by clouding the issue with myths and untruths.

As for detecting the means of generation of the electricity used, contrary to the laughable “CO2Stats” claim, this is largely impossible. In the vast majority of countries, electricity is provided by a grid which aggregates all generation sources.

Funnily enough, the oft-lampooned Bill Thompson had a interesting idea  in http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7300403.stm  -  

Perhaps we should develop a Network Energy Protocol that lets servers and services report their electricity consumption in real time, so I can change my usage patterns.