Google search energy
- From RSS
Urs Hölzle, Senior Vice President, Operations, Google
More recently, to find the answer to your question, you had to go to the nearest library. Today, search engines allow us to instantly access huge amounts of useful information - right from home or from work. And such Internet tools as e-mail, online books, photographs, video chats and others, make us more efficient and independent.
At the same time, in proportion to how the role of technology in people's lives increases, so does the amount of energy spent on them. Google is aware of the environmental consequences of this fact and takes them very seriously. That's why we design our data centersso that using Google search consumes the least amount of energy. So, for example, while processing a search query, your PC consumes more energy than a Google search to produce relevant results.
However, statements have recently appeared that the average search session leads to the emission of 7 grams of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which corresponds to half the CO2 emissions from boiling water in the kettle. We decided that it makes sense to explain what is behind these numbers. Google searches are quick - usually the user gets results for their query in less than 0.2 seconds. Of course, requests vary in complexity, but on average, the server processes them in thousandths of a second. If we also take into account the processes that take place before you start the search (for example, forming a list of indexed pages), we get that for a search session you need 0.0003 kWh or 1KJ of energy. In comparison, the average adult receives about 8,000 kJ of energy per day from food, thus
For greenhouse gases, a single Google search is equivalent to releasing about 0.2 grams of CO2. Another comparison: the EU calls for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from cars to 140 grams per kilometer, but most cars cannot yet meet these standards. That is, an average car, having traveled 1 kilometer, produces as many greenhouse gases as a thousand search sessions on Google.
We have made significant strides in working to reduce the energy consumption of our data centers, but no less than this, we are interested in environmentally friendly and affordable energy sources. In 2008, our division of Google.orginvested $ 45 million in innovative clean energy technologies. And last summer, as part of the Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal initiative (RE-C) project, we organized a whole team of engineers who will work directly on clean energy tasks.
We also work with other IT companies to improve the situation on a larger scale. In 2007, for example, we took part in the Climate Savers Computing Initiative , an initiative aimed at developing energy-saving technologies for computing systems and components. This initiative has a specific goal - to reduce carbon emissions by 54 tons annually and halve the energy spent by computers by 2010.
More recently, to find the answer to your question, you had to go to the nearest library. Today, search engines allow us to instantly access huge amounts of useful information - right from home or from work. And such Internet tools as e-mail, online books, photographs, video chats and others, make us more efficient and independent.
At the same time, in proportion to how the role of technology in people's lives increases, so does the amount of energy spent on them. Google is aware of the environmental consequences of this fact and takes them very seriously. That's why we design our data centersso that using Google search consumes the least amount of energy. So, for example, while processing a search query, your PC consumes more energy than a Google search to produce relevant results.
However, statements have recently appeared that the average search session leads to the emission of 7 grams of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which corresponds to half the CO2 emissions from boiling water in the kettle. We decided that it makes sense to explain what is behind these numbers. Google searches are quick - usually the user gets results for their query in less than 0.2 seconds. Of course, requests vary in complexity, but on average, the server processes them in thousandths of a second. If we also take into account the processes that take place before you start the search (for example, forming a list of indexed pages), we get that for a search session you need 0.0003 kWh or 1KJ of energy. In comparison, the average adult receives about 8,000 kJ of energy per day from food, thus
For greenhouse gases, a single Google search is equivalent to releasing about 0.2 grams of CO2. Another comparison: the EU calls for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from cars to 140 grams per kilometer, but most cars cannot yet meet these standards. That is, an average car, having traveled 1 kilometer, produces as many greenhouse gases as a thousand search sessions on Google.
We have made significant strides in working to reduce the energy consumption of our data centers, but no less than this, we are interested in environmentally friendly and affordable energy sources. In 2008, our division of Google.orginvested $ 45 million in innovative clean energy technologies. And last summer, as part of the Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal initiative (RE-C) project, we organized a whole team of engineers who will work directly on clean energy tasks.
We also work with other IT companies to improve the situation on a larger scale. In 2007, for example, we took part in the Climate Savers Computing Initiative , an initiative aimed at developing energy-saving technologies for computing systems and components. This initiative has a specific goal - to reduce carbon emissions by 54 tons annually and halve the energy spent by computers by 2010.