The Internet Saves 10 Watts of Energy for Every Watt it Uses

Geeks are great. And a new study now shows that they’re are also green.

The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy did a study on computer usage and found that for every watt of energy used by the internet, 10 watts are saved elsewhere. EcoGeek has it:

They [The ACEEE] have put numbers to what I have long expected to be true. Folks who complain about how much energy computers waste are crazy. Computers save tons of energy, while, themselves, using less energy than the light bulb used to light the workstation. And now we know how much.

The study focused on a metric called “energy intensity.” Basically, that’s the amount of energy necessary to produce a dollar of economic output. The first major drop in energy intensity occurred after the oil crisis in the 1970s. That was a cost-based drop, not generally the ideal.

So how do computers save us energy?

• They have allowed everything to become more efficient.
• They people and things to travel digitally, instead of physically. For example: meetings online instead of driving your SUV to the office.
• They allow us to do our shopping online instead of driving your SUV to the retail store. (Did I already mention the SUV?)
• And lastly they allow me how to tell YOU to put the earth first, instead of me driving over to your house in an SUV, knocking on your door and telling you face to face.

I knew there was a good reason that I have this weird relationship with my laptop. Oh, and on a side note, I do not drive an SUV.

Link [EcoGeek]

Photo: Flickr user NaOH

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