The Shift Project has released a report pointing the finger at online video as a significant, and growing, cause of greenhouse gas emissions.
From New Scientist:
The transmission and viewing of online videos generates 300 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, or nearly 1 per cent of global emissions. On-demand video services such as Netflix account for a third of this, with online pornographic videos generating another third.
[...] The authors call for measures to limit the emissions from online videos, such as preventing them from autoplaying and not transmitting videos in high definition when it is unnecessary. For instance, some devices can now display higher resolutions than people can perceive. The report says regulation will be necessary.
No word on the carbon footprints of HTTPS, JavaScript, or advertising.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 14 2019, @03:12PM
Compare the dollar cost of streaming an hour of video, to the dollar cost of driving for an hour to get to a cinema. The cost of streaming is vanishingly small. The carbon cost, ditto. Like you, I think the "think tank" must be off their meds.