Good news for print media as Internet's green credentials are questioned

Posted by Emma Heald on January 15, 2009 at 3:37 PM

Some positive news for print media: paper has suffered much criticism for its lack of environmental credentials, but now it appears that the Internet is not as green as previously believed.

Harvard University physicist Alex Wissner-Gross maintains that "a Google search has a definite environmental impact," producing about 7g of CO2. Viewing a web page generate between 0.02g and 0.2g of CO2 per second. As a comparison, boiling a kettle generates about 15g.

Industry analysts Gartner say that the global IT industry generates about 2 per cent of global CO2 emissions: as much greenhouse gas as the world's airlines. According to Wissner-Gross, Google's focus on the speed of search results means that they burn more energy.

So rejecting a print paper for online news may not necessarily be a green step in the right direction. PrintWeek reported that campaigns such as the National Association of Paper Merchants' Two Sides initiative have aimed to bolster print's environmental image, and the take up of environmental accreditations has increased.

Source: PrintWeek, Sunday Times