Assessing the Internet’s Impact on the Finite World

(2/05/2009) - Green Tech Media is reporting that, “the ever-expanding IP network probably eliminates more carbon than it creates.”  Or so says Subodh Bapat, the vice president at Sun Microsystems, one of the world’s largest makers of computer servers and data storage systems. 

The arguments he makes (or at least the ones Green Tech Media quote him as making), are pretty flimsy. "You would have printed a lot more brochures. You would have printed more books. You would have traveled more. You have online shopping," he said. "A lot of stuff has become more efficient."

I don’t want to take a position on whether or not the internet is carbon negative (as Bapat argues) or carbon neutral or what have you, partly because I just don’t know, but also because it is impossible to know what the world would look like without the invention of the computer and the internet.

The Typewriter’s Advocate – Why the Internet and Computers are Bad for the Finite World

The main problem with Bapat’s argument is that it implies that the world is a zero sum game.  Efficiency does not necessarily equal better for the environment.  Bapat seems to believe that if one activity is taking place using computers, it means another, less efficient activity isn’t taking place.  Bapat is right that computers and the internet have made things more efficient.  So have planes, cars, and electricity produced from coal, and no one can really argue that these innovations are “carbon neutral.” 

During my life, I have driven across the United States twice, flown to Europe three times, Central America, South America, Japan, and dozens of times domestically.  I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without the efficiency and power provided by fossil fuels.  Likewise, computers have allowed for a revolution in communications, data processing, paperwork-management, graphics, and dozens of other areas.  The time and money saved by these processes has also provided more wealth to spend on things like cars, televisions, home additions, golfing, and more. More often than not, technology has made certain activities possible, not just easier.

Bapat’s arguments regarding paper use are ignorant of the facts.  Per capital paper consumption in the United States increased by 70% between 1961 and 2004, and, and about 4.5% since the invention of the world wide web in 1989.  Its true that the ability to send an e-mail keeps us form using the paper we would use to write a letter.  But computer technology also allows us to effortlessly print off fifty pages of whatever without really thinking about it.  Likewise, I argue that our ability to communicate across long distances has, if anything, led to an increase in travel.  The internet lets companies find each other across the globe, which then gives business owners a reason to travel and work out a deal in person. 

The computer industry also consumes plenty of non-carbon resources.  Computers use many different types of metals – aluminum, antimony, arsenic, barium, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, gallium, gold, iron, lead, manganese, mercury, palladium, platinum, selenium, silver, and zinc.  Mining these minerals uses energy and produces waste.  Electronic waste is the source of a large percentage of the heavy metals in American landfills (~70%).  If Bapat is going to be successful in his mission to make Sun Microsystems more energy efficient and less polluting, he’s going to have to look at these issues too, and not just end-user carbon emissions.

What the Internet Can Do for the Environment

Does all of this mean we should go back to the pre-computer era?  I don’t think so, and even if we wanted to its a genie that would refuse to go back to the bottle anyways.  Even if the internet and related technologies consume energy doing things we wouldn’t have done otherwise, I am optimistic that when paired with other technologies, these technologies will produce a net savings in energy in the long run. 

The most important way I believe/hope the internet can help us save energy and resources is indirectly through increased communication and sharing of information.  Though I have little proof of this at my fingertips in terms of data, I don’t think the current drive to prevent global warming, for example, would be as strong without the World Wide Web and the information found on it.  But this might be my own personal bias, given the fact that I came to understand the current economic and environmental situation through information read on the internet. 

How the “Smart Grid” Works

Second, the internet and/or related technologies will allow us to install so-called “smart grid” technologies, which will help consumers reduce their consumption of electricity by metering and providing real-time prices of electricity.  As it now stands, customers pay the same amount for electricity, regardless of when it is used, despite the fact that consumption of electricity varies greatly, from highs on hot summer business days, to lows in the dead of warm spring nights.  With a smart grid, you can charge people based on when they are using the electricity.  So, on a windless, hot summer day, the price will rise as supply stagnates and demand rises.  Consumers will be able to observe this and adjust accordingly.  Maybe they’ll wait to do laundry until night, or turn off the air conditioner for a little while, or shut off the T.V.  A factory owner might decide to shift more of her production to the night-shift. 

Thus, the smart grid provides incentives for consumers to use energy more evenly throughout the day and when the wind is blowing and sun is shining.  It also saves utilities money because they don’t have to worry as much about peak consumptions overloading their system.  According to a 2007 study (PDF) by the Department of Energy, Italy’s ENEL Telegestore grid project has networked over 27 million meters for €2.1.  These improvements are producing €500 million  savings per year. 

As the U.S. government funds this type of project nationwide, it shouldn’t use these savings to reduce electricity prices.  Instead, this money could be leveraged and used to fund clean energy projects or other infrastructure improvements through a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank.