We all know that the internet can be a huge time-suck. It’s easy to get lost in a rabbit hole of cat videos or celebrity gossip. But did you know that the internet can also be a huge energy-suck? While writing a lot about green coding and business sustainability, we asked ourselves ”What Else Would Make the Internet Greener?”
That’s right, all those hours you spend browsing the web use up energy — and that energy often comes from dirty sources like coal-fired power plants. On top of that, platforms such as Youtube and recently popularized NFTs use more energy than you know. So what can we do to make the internet a little greener?
What is an NFT?
An NFT is a non-fungible token, which means it is a digital asset that cannot be exchanged for another asset of the same kind. NFTs are unique and therefore have a higher value than fungible tokens. NFTs can be used to represent items such as art, collectibles, and in-game items.
Some popular examples of NFTs include CryptoKitties and Decentraland. CryptoKitties are digital collectibles that can be bought, sold, or traded on the Ethereum blockchain. Decentraland is a virtual world that runs on the Ethereum blockchain. Users can buy, sell, or trade virtual land and assets in Decentraland.
The use of NFTs is still in its early stages, but there is a lot of potential for growth in this area. We are likely to see more and more businesses and individuals using NFTs to represent digital assets in the future.
Energy Consumption of the NFTs
The term “making an NFT” usually refers to the act of minting an NFT, which is converting a digital art file into a blockchain token. This process requires around 142 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy to complete, making it one of the most resource-intensive activities in cryptocurrency. The high demand for energy is due to the competition among miners vying to be the first to create each new NFT. With so many people working on such complex calculations simultaneously, the electricity consumption is tremendous.
However, there are some ways to reduce the energy consumption of NFTs. For example, you can choose to mint your NFTs on a Proof-of-Authority blockchain instead of a Proof-of-Work blockchain. This will significantly reduce the amount of energy needed for the minting process.
So, if you’re looking to create an NFT, be sure to keep the environment in mind. And try to find ways to reduce the energy consumption of your NFTs.
Energy Consumption of Youtube
When it comes to energy consumption, YouTube is a bit of a black hole.
The video streaming giant has come under fire in recent years for the amount of energy it takes to keep its servers running. And while the company has made some strides in improving its energy efficiency, it still uses a lot of power.
According to a recent report from the Natural Resources Defense Council, YouTube uses nearly 2 percent of all the electricity consumed by the internet. That may not sound like much, but it adds up to a lot of power when you consider that YouTube has more than 1 billion users.
So how does YouTube use all of this energy? Well, most of it goes into powering the servers that store and stream all of those videos. YouTube has to keep its servers running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to make sure that users can access their videos at any time.
And as more and more people use YouTube, the company has to add more servers to keep up with the demand. This means that YouTube’s energy consumption is only going to increase in the future.
But there is some good news. YouTube is working on ways to reduce its energy consumption. The company has already made its servers more efficient and it is working on new technologies that could further reduce its power usage.
So while YouTube may be a bit of a black hole when it comes to energy consumption, the company is working to make sure that it doesn’t suck up too much power in the future.
At this point, we all know that the internet is a huge energy suck. But what if there were ways to make it more energy-efficient? Here are a few ideas:
1. Use less data: We all love streaming HD videos on YouTube, but those videos use a lot of data. If we all lowered our resolution to 480p or even 360p, we could reduce our energy consumption by up to 80%.
2. Eliminate buffering: Buffer-free streaming would not only be more pleasant for viewers, but it would also save energy. A study by the University of Bristol found that eliminating buffering could save 3% of the world’s entire electricity consumption by 2020.
3. Use more renewable energy: According to a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council, if the internet were powered by 100% renewable energy, it would reduce its carbon footprint by 61%.
4. Improve data center efficiency: Data centers use a lot of energy, so making them more efficient is key to reducing the internet’s energy consumption. One way to do this is by using more efficient servers and storage devices.
5. Reduce internet traffic: According to a study by the University of Leeds, if everyone in the world reduced their internet usage by just 10%, it would save enough energy to power all of the streetlights in the UK for a year.
6. Use energy-efficient devices: We all need to use our devices more efficiently if we want to reduce the internet’s energy consumption. One way to do this is to make sure that our devices are set to automatically go into power-saving mode when they’re not in use.
7. Educate others about energy efficiency: The more people know about energy efficiency, the more likely they are to make changes in their own lives. So share this article with your friends and family and help spread the word about how we can all make the internet a little bit greener.
The internet is a huge part of our lives and it’s only going to become more so in the future. We all need to do our part to make sure that it doesn’t become a burden on the planet. By making a few small changes in our own lives, we can make a big difference.