Any idea how many time you use Google on a typical day? According to my logs, I've already made five searches and I've only just finished breakfast, and I'll have long lost count by lunchtime. Search engines have become as essential a part of our daily lives as mobile phones and TV. Bad news then that a new study has revealed the 'true carbon impact of googling': two search requests on Google, apparently, produce as much carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle, according to a Harvard University academic.
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I can't help but roll my eyes at this type of reporting, since we all know that using a computer (or indeed anything that connects to the wall with a plug) is going to have some impact on the total amount of C02 we get through. The answer to this problem is surely not to limit our use of valuable and time consuming search tools but to look at our IT habits as a whole, ensuring for example that we don't leave PCs on standby and choose models with a lower energy consumption when we come to buy gadgets. The rise of netbooks and other small-sized computers is making this easier all the time. And let's not forget that Google does an awful lot of good for the environment in its own right!
The 'study' was bs. Bad science and quotes taken out of context. Goolge have published more realistic figures on their own blog:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/powering-google-search.html
tl;dr? 'Thus, the average car driven for one kilometer (0.6 miles for those in the U.S.) produces as many greenhouse gases as a thousand Google searches.'