Watching a series on Netflix or sharing a video on social media seems like a green pastime with no impact on the environment, right? But things aren’t that simple. The fact is that to handle the hundreds of billions of bytes we generate and consume, the data centers that store, process, and redistribute this vast amount of data are major energy consumers—and we must also factor in the energy used in the manufacturing and distribution of digital devices—from cell phones to laptops, including smart TVs and servers—as well as the energy used when operating them.

According to estimates by The Shift Project, a Paris-based NGO, digital technologies’ share of greenhouse gas emissions rose from 2.5% of the total in 2013 to 3.7% in 2019, a carbon footprint larger than that of air travel. The main sources of emissions were online video streaming and the increased use of short-lived electronic devices. The energy intensity of the technology industry is rising by 4% per year, compared with the 1.8% annual decline in the energy intensity of global GDP.

These numbers hide a paradox. Digital technologies are key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but at the same time, they are becoming a significant—and growing—source of these emissions.

Fortunately, new technologies—such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and machine learning—are helping to make the tech industry a greener sector. But The Shift Project also proposes a change in the way we consume technology: doing so more moderately and with an awareness of the impact of digitalization on climate change.

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