Carbon footprint of unwanted data use by smartphones

Re:Carbon footprint of unwanted data use by smartphones by lotu on Wednesday September 14, 2022 @02:20PM (#32841107)

They say that this is 3-8 Metric tons of carbon per year. For comparison a 747 flying from New York to London one way emits 500 Metric tons of carbon. Europe is emitting around 2 BILLION Metric tons of carbon per year.

I personally don't think this is an effective use of resources if our goal is to stop climate change.

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Re:Carbon footprint of unwanted data use by smartphones by hgomersall on Wednesday September 14, 2022 @02:37PM (#32841366)

They're measuring in Mega Tonnes, not metric tons.

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Re:Carbon footprint of unwanted data use by smartphones by tines on Wednesday September 14, 2022 @03:22PM (#32842010)

GP needs to fix their comment, it's completely inaccurate and presents to people who don't read the article an entirely wrong conclusion.

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Re:Carbon footprint of unwanted data use by smartphones by kornhole on Wednesday September 14, 2022 @03:18PM (#32841962)

I agree that we should focus on the major uses of power, but the trajectory of computing and data center usage is accelerating quickly. We have the opportunity to get ahead of it rather than try to rip out and replace later as we are doing with power plants and transportation, all very costly.

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Re:Carbon footprint of unwanted data use by smartphones by _carbyau_ on Wednesday September 14, 2022 @08:52PM (#32845598)

747 maximum takeoff weight is 320 tons. Even assuming it is entirely made of carbon and it is all burnt (helluva flight for the passengers!), it won't make another 180 tons of carbon appear out of nowhere.

I am not even close to trusting your statement. Dial back the hyperbole.

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