The internet feels intangible. A search, a scroll, a video stream happens in seconds, seemingly without consequence. But behind every click lies a physical infrastructure that consumes energy, water and natural resources on a global scale.
A new online calculator now makes that impact visible.
The internet’s unseen environmental footprint
The digital world is far from carbon-neutral. According to researchers, the internet is responsible for around 3.7% of global carbon emissions, more than the aviation sector. If it were a country, it would rank as the fourth-largest polluter in the world.
That footprint comes from data centres, server cooling systems, network transmission and the energy required to move information from servers to our phones and laptops.
Yet most users remain unaware of how their everyday browsing contributes to this burden.
A calculator that turns clicks into climate data
To bridge this gap, climate experts at the University of Exeter, working with digital design firm Madeby.studio, have developed Digital Impact for Species – a tool that analyses the environmental cost of any website.
Unlike traditional calculators that focus only on carbon emissions, the tool goes further. It measures energy use, water consumption and biodiversity impact, translating abstract data into tangible comparisons drawn from nature.
“When we visit a website, we rarely think about the environmental impact,” says project lead Marcos Oliveira Jr, from Exeter’s nature and climate impact team.
“But there is a high cost, from the energy used as information travels from data centres to devices, to the water needed to cool servers.”
How the tool works
Using the calculator is simple: users paste a website’s URL into the search bar.
The tool then assigns an overall environmental rating from A+ to F, alongside a detailed breakdown of how each page view affects nature.
To do this, it combines several established methodologies:
- Google PageSpeed Insights is used to calculate the total size of files loaded when a page opens, including images, text and video.
- Hosting data is checked against the Green Web Foundation to determine whether servers are powered by renewable energy or fossil fuels.
- The Sustainable Web Design Model is applied to estimate emissions, energy and water use per page view.
- These figures are then translated into nature-based equivalents, using scientifically sourced species data.
Larger, media-heavy pages require more energy to transmit and process, resulting in higher environmental costs.
What YouTube reveals about digital impact
The results can be striking.
YouTube, which processes billions of searches each month, receives a C rating, indicating room for improvement.
Each page view generates:
- 0.249g of CO₂
- 0.0011 litres of water
- 0.62 Wh of energy
Over 9,000 monthly visits, this adds up to:
- 10 litres of water, enough for a capuchin monkey to survive 77 days
- CO₂ levels requiring one Amazon rainforest tree working for 41 days to absorb
- 6 kWh of energy, equivalent to the daily energy use of 1,000 Anna’s hummingbirds for 332 days
The aim, researchers stress, is not to shame platforms. “This is about engaging people and starting conversations about how we build a more sustainable internet,” Oliveira Jr explains.
Can the internet become greener?
For individual users, the options are limited. The biggest responsibility lies with website owners and developers.
Researchers point to several practical steps that can significantly reduce a site’s footprint:
- Using fewer and lighter images
- Limiting fonts and heavy design elements
- Avoiding unnecessary video content
- Simplifying navigation
- Removing excess code
- Following SEO best practices so users reach the right page faster
Choosing green web hosting powered by renewable energy can also make a substantial difference.
Source: euronews