Google snubs CO2 storm in teacup

BANGALORE, INDIA: Responding on to the much publicized research about Google's carbon footprints, the search giant said on Monday that the estimates of energy use for searches far exceeded reality.

The Sunday Times had quoted a Harvard University physicist as saying that performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate the same amount of harmful carbon dioxide as boiling an electric kettle for a cup of tea, and produces 7 grams of CO2.

Responding to the report, Google said that the study estimate is 'many' times too high and their centers are the most efficient in the world. “..as computers become a bigger part of more people's lives, information technology consumes an increasing amount of energy, and Google takes this impact seriously. That's why we have designed and built the most energy efficient data centers in the world, which means the energy used per Google search is minimal,” Google said in its official blogspot.

Google is fast – a typical search returns results in less than 0.2 seconds. Queries vary in degree of difficulty, but for the average query, the servers it touches each work on it for just a few thousandths of a second, it said.

Together with other work performed before your search even starts (such as building the search index) this amounts to 0.0003 kWh of energy per search, or 1 kJ. For comparison, the average adult needs about 8000 kJ a day of energy from food, so a Google search uses just about the same amount of energy that your body burns in ten seconds, it added.

Google said in terms of greenhouse gases, one Google search is equivalent to about 0.2 grams of CO2. The current EU standard for tailpipe emissions calls for 140 grams of CO2 per kilometer driven, but most cars don't reach that level yet.

Thus, the average car driven for one kilometer produces as many greenhouse gases as a thousand Google searches. Google also said it is working with other members of the IT community to improve efficiency on a broader scale.

Don't you think a bit too much of carbon is burning somewhere? But where... in Google's data centre or the Harvard Scholar's research lab?