system – the potential for faster progress is enormous if strong action is taken immediately .’
Powering the Internet
Focusing specifically on energy and the Internet , the net is clearly highly energy intensive . According to KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden , about 9 % of the world ’ s total electricity consumption is currently used by the Internet , and this figure is set to double by 2025 .
Data centres are particularly energy hungry , with a large facility typically using more than 30 GWh per year . Such heavy consumption makes it unsurprising that efforts have so far been focused on how to increase the energy efficiency of data centres and reduce their carbon footprint .
Measures include locating centres in the most energy efficient locations , such as Meta ’ s Lulea data centre near the Arctic Circle in Sweden , which uses outside air for cooling and runs on hydroelectric power . Meta , along with some of the world ' s largest data centre users , including Apple , Google and Microsoft , have also committed to using 100 % renewable energy .
Despite such positive moves , the data centre sector has much further to go , with critics pointing out that currently only about
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