Netflix is having a chilling impact on the environment, a new study finds.
Climate scientists are railing against streaming TV and movie services, which they’re calling “a waste of resources at all levels.”
Researchers estimate that watching a half-hour show via an on-demand video app emits 1.6 kilograms of carbon dioxide into the environment — the equivalent of driving almost 4 miles, according to Maxime Efoui-Hess of Paris-based nonprofit the Shift Project.
The study reports that while 34 percent of traffic goes to streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu, the second-leading source comes from web porn.
The main energy drain comes out of the streaming services’ servers. They contribute about 0.3 percent of all carbon emissions, according to Nature Research.
Gary Cook of environmental activist group Greenpeace, where they monitor tech’s energy footprint, tells AFP, “Digital videos come in very large file sizes and (are) getting bigger with each new generation of higher definition video.”
“More data equals more energy needed to maintain a system that is ready to stream this video to your device at a moment’s notice,” Cook says.
A spokesperson for the Center of Expertise for Data Centers, Dale Sartor, who works with the US Department of Energy, warns that even if our appetite for streaming shows is stagnant during the next five or 10 years, there would still need to be “significant improvement in IT equipment and data center energy performance.”
Nevertheless, experts say that watchers just can’t get enough: Anders Andrae of Huawei Technologies estimates that by 2030 some 4.1 percent of the global electricity budget will be taken up by streaming video servers, AFP reports.
Moreover, Cisco Network expects a quadruple increase in internet video traffic between 2017 and 2022 — eating up 80 percent of global web traffic. (The Shift Project offers a web browser plug-in, called the Carbonalyser, to help you track your own streaming consumption.)
Meanwhile, Netflix boasted a 53 percent increase in international revenue from 2017 to 2018, and new highly anticipated streaming services are coming, including Disney+ and Apple TV+.
Then there’s the issue of ever-increasing screen size and quality, which takes even more energy to power. The Consumer Technology Association found that the average screen size in 1997 was just 22 inches.
By 2021, they predict the average television size to be 50 inches. Popular 4K resolution screens use about 30 percent more energy than the high-definition screens that preceded it. Soon, powerful 8K resolution screens, which debuted last year, may become an industry standard.
“The changing screen size and related shift to digital video technology have set the stage for higher definition and thus larger file sizes that we are streaming,” says Cook.
Laurent Lefevre from the French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation calls it “a waste of resources on all levels.”
Tech researchers suggest users disable autoplay and refrain from streaming high-def, especially if not on a Wi-Fi network. Lefevre notes that streaming video over a 3G mobile connection is one of the most wasteful ways to watch.
Cook concludes that concerned consumers ought to wield their wallets to encourage change.
“Exercising collective responsibility, with individuals demanding internet giants rapidly transition their data centers to renewable energy, has been the biggest driver thus far,” he says.
Read more at NY Post
Although Hulu has just one main package for its live TV service, there are several add-ons that can reduce the savings over cable or satellite TV.
To the greens: lead by example!
Refrain from the internet, medicine, transportation, phones, electronics, warm houses and clothing, go back to your caves eating plants and live a fruitful prosperous life.
“Exercising collective responsibility, with individuals demanding internet giants rapidly transition their data centers to renewable energy” So, the public where the average person has very little concern for climate change is going to be happy with large bills to pay for using renewable energy? These activists forget that the public in general does not share their concern.
It is not logical to single out a new activity for its impact on carbon dioxide emissions. Health and fitness centers are much more common today than 20 or 30 years ago. Does that mean they should be criticized for the emissions of their facilities and that of people driving to them?
I realy prefer shows from the 60’s.70’s and 80’s i got some old classic cartoon shows from the 1960’s like Space Ghost and Dyno Boy,Johnny Quest,Wacky Races Etc and Gilligan’s Island,Etc
I would like to see the data that these clown scientists use to come up with these questionable numbers. I mean 1.6 kilograms of CO2 is miniscule and who is Maxime Efoui-Hess of Paris-based nonprofit the Shift Project. I question her qualifications.
Re. “a waste of resources on all levels.” – if it can be done profitably, it is ipso facto not a waste of resources at any level. By contrast, “renewable” energy generation that cannot be built without subsidies clearly is a waste of resources.
As an aside, it is amazing that these civilization-haters all seem to be informed by a kind of extreme Puritanism – whatever is suspected of being fun or being popular with the masses (cars, juicy steaks, flying on airplanes, streaming videos…) is suddenly deemed “bad” and in need of restriction. A changing climate definitely appears preferable to the drab existence these people seem to consider ideal.
I live in the sticks. I can see the new Bell cellular tower planted on the neighbours farm. Contractors are burying fibre optic cable so that tower can transmit 5G. Our roads are crap, but high speed Internet service is Ottawa’s mandated panacea. Does Trudeau know that his gift to the MSM , the CBC, CTV, his propaganda spewing organs, is carbon intensive? If he does know, he’d do it anyway. Just like he took 400 hypocritical delegates to Paris.
The most amazing and wonderful thing about this supposed problem is that, I can “watch” Netflix and streaming video all day long while I’m not even home. In fact, I can enjoy streaming all this video from many rooms of my house simultaneously. And know I understand why I should do this – there is the slight possibility that the morons in Climate Alarm Central will find out about what I’m doing and have instant heart-attacks. What a wonderful world it could be!.
Try to sell this to the youngsters creating the internet traffic jam.
Lower your expectations, be patient and save the planet. Or, buy carbon credits, you rich punk.
I must schedule streaming time if I can generate more of the precious, life-giving, beneficial trace gas, CO2, without even leaving my recliner.
…the Shift Project….they misspelled a word….
When these morons in Netflix and huly and amazon..what have you will finally realize that a LEFTS are not your friends?
The lefties can never be “woke” enough. They will turn on each other as they scratch and claw their way to utopia.
Ask the question to those idiots from that stupid Greenpeace just how mnay gallons of deisil fuel that’s a Fossil Fuel do you use while sailing all over t he globe making total pests of yourselves please tell me Greenpeace the size of your own Carbon Footprint and yes you can measure that in Football Fields
Wow! Even watching videos are bad for the planet! On the other hand, not driving to the movie theater has to reduce that “carbon pollution” (aka CO2, that trace gas needed for life on this planet). I guess it shows that just us living is going to kill the planet so we must reduce the number of humans. I think the first to go are those who say the end is near. Once we get rid of those people we can go back to living and enjoying our life–they clearly don’t enjoy living since it’s all about to end anyway.
You’re not wrong.
They’re all #ClimateCrackpots with #NoBrains!