The Environmental Impact of Streaming

Many people never think about the environmental impact of streaming. It may be difficult to imagine that watching content on a mobile phone, computer, or TV would have much significance for the environment. However, there is a chain that leads up to content being available to the consumer, and each link in this chain requires electricity.

The streaming services make use of huge datacentres which require a lot of electricity. WiFi and broadband requires electricity, as do the devices we watch content on. This means that every time we watch an episode of a TV series or re-watch our favourite film, we use a lot of electricity. Even if we are watching in Norway and can take comfort in our devices running on hydropower, most of the electricity used in the chain is generated by emitting greenhouse gases.

The Carbon Trust estimates that every hour spent streaming video releases 55 to 56 grams of CO2. This is equivalent to driving a car 300 meters. If you multiply this by the number of hours you stream in a week and the number of people who are likely to be doing the same thing, the amount quickly increases. In 2021, Netflix revealed that fans clocked up to 6 billion hours watching their top ten shows. This is the same amount of carbon that would be released by a car travelling 1.8 billion km, which is the equivalent of a journey from Earth to Saturn.

Not included in this calculation is the carbon footprint we leave behind when making content and the technology required to transmit and watch this content. All of these factors combined make streaming problematic from an environmental point of view.

Since the technology is new, people are only now starting to become aware of the problem. Streaming companies have started to address the issue: Netflix has pledged to become carbon-neutral by the end of 2022 and Disney pledges that the entire company will be carbon neutral by 2030.

Streaming is the transmission of video content, which requires a great deal of electricity. However, electricity consumption from the technology we use is not limited to streaming. Most companies do not think about their online presence when calculating their carbon footprint. However, we are beginning to see examples of companies slimming down their websites to make their carbon footprint smaller. Removing pictures, videos and other content means that less energy is required to store the material, and less energy is spent when accessing the sites. Encouraging employees to regularly delete emails rather than let their inboxes pile up, is another measure to reduce the carbon footprint of companies.

Private users also contribute greatly to carbon emissions from online activities other than streaming. Do you store documents, games, videos, or photos in cloud storage? Have you ever thought about how that cloud is powered? Do you use social media like Tik Tok or Instagram? Do you play online games? How are these things brought to your screen? How is the material saved? Limiting the amount of games, videos, and photos you store or share can significantly reduce your carbon footprint.

When we think about reducing greenhouse gases, we tend to think about limiting travel, saving on heating, or reducing emissions; we usually do not think about the electricity used when we switch on our devices. If we are serious about combating climate change, we may also have to change our online habits as it will mean considerably more than switching off the light when we leave a room.