Internet Economy and Global Warming
* Article: Joseph Romm et al. The Internet Economy and Global Warming. 1999
URL = http://www.p2pays.org/ref%5C04%5C03784/0378401.pdf
Discussion
Joe Romm:
"The 1999 paper never said that the Internet would lead to “dramatic reductions in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 2010.” It said that the Internet would help significantly improve the efficiency of the overall economy, leading to a much faster rate of energy intensity decline than had been seen in the previous decade.
The Energy Information Administration initially scoffed at that prediction, but in fact, the EIA now reports that from 1986 to 1995, energy intensity (primary energy consumed per dollar of real GDP) dropped about 7.5%, whereas from 1996 to 2005 it dropped a whopping 20%! And it dropped another 8% from 2005 through 2009. Besides vindicating by prediction, it is one strongly suggestive piece of evidence that internet- and IT-driven growth is less energy intensive.
Focusing on the direct energy consumption of the digital economy simply makes little sense in trying to understand the overall impact of the Internet on the economy." (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2010/06/21/206254/internet-energy-use-myth/)