According to an advertisement I heard while listening to a Reply All podcast episode, the total amount of energy used to keep 'The Internet' running every day is a massive amount. If it were included as a country among the world rankings of energy use, The Good Old Interwebs would rank around fifth or sixth.
It's not the best comparison, I think. Using the internet replaces a lot of energy-consuming tasks. And obviously, in the world rankings of energy use, the others already ranked include internet use in their totals. So I'm sure a more robust calculation of "The Internet's" energy-guzzling accomplishments would see it fall a little lower down on the list.
But still...the total energy used by the 'net is a very big number. Would we stop using 'The Internet' if it meant slowing climate change?
