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Discussion on: Why “dark mode” is more energy-efficient: How to calculate image energy-cost

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madsstoumann profile image
Mads Stoumann • Edited

In general, "the cost of the internet" is difficult to measure, I guess.
The number 416.2twH pops up as "this is what the internet costs", but that's just the electricity to drive data-centers etc. There's also the cost of building data-centers (in terms of CO2 emissions, where 1kg cement === 1kg CO2) and the infastructure around it. And if we need to calculate the cost of downloading data to a device, we also need to measure the costs of our routers, modems, and ... it's ... difficult!

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grahamthedev profile image
GrahamTheDev

Difficult is landing a rocket on the moon, calculating the actual cost of the internet is impossible I would say as we don't have enough data 😋🤣

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madsstoumann profile image
Mads Stoumann

Not to mention all the different energy-units! We're measuring emissions in CO2, but the energy that creates them in KwH/TwH, eV ... even calories! In meat-production, a cow needs to eat 6 calories to produce the meat-equivalent of 1 calorie for us to eat - but we measure the end-result in CO2 - phew!

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GrahamTheDev

Haha - we should measure everything calories...I mean I don’t have a chance as I live in the UK so we measure food in calories, temperature in Celsius, oven temperatures in “Gas Marks”, fuel usage in miles per gallon....you get the idea!