7. Using energy

Another effect of ICT on the environment is the sheer amount of electricity used to power up the millions upon millions of computer servers around the world and also to keep them cool.

Electricity tends to produce greenhouse gases because of the way it is generated. So the less used, the better. It is also cheaper for the companies and households paying for all that energy!

The largest companies have huge data centres to house their servers. Much of the energy required is actually to keep the equipment cool.

At home you can help by using the 'sleep mode' on the computer that more-or-less shuts down the machine when not in use. Or just switch it off.