You might want to think before you press “send” on your next e-mail. Sending, receiving and storing e-mail does have an impact on the environment. All that information and data has to be stored somewhere. And it is – in giant computer server “farms” and data center facilities. Not only are they numerous, but they are electrically intensive. In 2006, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that servers and data centers represented 1.5 percent of total electricity usage in the country for that year – and that equals 61 billion kilowatt hours. How much energy is that? Just 10 billion kilowatt hours of electricity powers 1 million U.S. households each year.
If things continue as they are, the amount of electricity servers and data centers use is projected to grow to about 120 billion kilowatt hours in 2011. The U.S. Department of Energy’s current goal is to improve overall energy efficiency in data centers by 10 percent, which would save 10 billion kilowatt hours.
So, the next time you need to send an e-mail to your co-worker in the cubical next door or down the hall, it might be better for the environment – and your health – if you delivered the message in person.