How much energy does our digital tech use?

Jan, 24, 2026

Did you know that each time you connect to social media, browse a website or stream a video you’re consuming energy?

That’s because the digital tech that we, and billions of others, use relies on an enormous supporting infrastructure that require vast amounts of electricity.

‘Using social media is one of the invisible polluters that affects the Earth’s air, water, and noise,’ says researcher Altanshagai Batmunkh. ‘There is a substantial infrastructure constantly running behind each internet activity such as network devices, data center machines, ISP routers, etc., which consumes a lot of energy. Hence, the growing number of internet users and social media trends have contributed to the increase of carbon footprint.’1

According to Batmunkh, ‘30 min of Netflix generates 1.6 kg of CO2, which is the same as driving 4 miles [6.4 km]’.

Multiply that millions of users worldwide and you begin to see the extent of the problem.

Digital marketing expert Bill Casey says, ‘A single person’s daily digital activity—browsing, streaming, emailing—can add up to several kilograms of CO2 emissions per year.’ He points out that global use of information technology consumes around 6 to 12% of electricity and accounts for 2-4% of carbon emissions. 2

What can we do?

Reducing unnecessary social media use is a good first step and this is how we can do it.

OFF February, a global movement supported by EMR Australia, invites people to delete social media apps from their phones during the month of February – helping them regain over 50 hours of free time that month alone.

By doing this too, you can improve your life as well as reducing your carbon footprint!

OFF FEBRUARY has lots of activities and we invite you to take a look at them.

  • You can see more about the global OFF FEBRUARY movement here.

     

  • See more about OFF FEBURARY AUSTRALIA here.

     

References

  1. Batmunkh, Altanshagai. (2022). Carbon Footprint of The Most Popular Social Media Platforms. Sustainability. 14. 2195

     

  2. Bill Casey The Energy Behind the Internet, 21.4.2025

Three-in-one meter

If you haven’t seen it yet, please take a look at our new ENV RD-10 AU meter. It does the job of 3 meters, measuring electric fields, magnetic fields and radiofrequency (wireless) radiation.

You can use it to measure the fields in your home, car, workplace, school and your local environment and take steps to reduce your exposure where appropriate.

You can see more here.

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