Energy used to stream one film is enough to make 60 cups of tea as demand for YouTube, Netflix and Twitch is set to TREBLE by 2030
- Britain’s internet usage would need six dedicated nuclear power stations
- Demand for video is expected to double, or even treble, by the end of 2030
- YouTube, the study claims, is responsible for nearly 50% of online video demand
- Comes just weeks after a ground-breaking report from the UK Government pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050
Watching one feature-length film online via streaming sites such as Netflix requires the same amount of energy as boiling a kettle for 60 cups of tea.
Experts are warning the booming field of online video is putting a strain on power resources and becoming a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
They also claim Britain’s internet usage would need six dedicated nuclear power stations just to cope with the nation’s online habits.
As sites like Amazon Prime, YouTube and Twitch continue to thrive, it is expected that demand for online video will double, or maybe even treble, by 2030.
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Netflix has announced that it will begin revealing its viewership data for the site’s original content with creators and viewers. The streaming giant last night announced a record 9.6 million subscribers in its quarterly earnings report (file photo)
‘We found that streaming a two-hour high-definition film on Netflix equates to boiling over 10 kettles of water,’ Mike Hazas, a researcher at Lancaster University, told The Times.
The average household kettle makes six cups of tea and uses approximately one Kilowatt hour (kWh) of energy per boil.
Video is already the main drain on the internet’s resources, and the most energy intensive use of the web.
Researchers tracked the online footsteps of a range of people, including pensioners, students and teenagers.
They found streaming was the dominant form of entertainment, beating out traditional broadcast and other mediums, such as DVD and Blu-ray.
‘Our findings show a significant behavioural shift towards streaming as a default, with traditional broadcast TV or DVDs becoming obsolete,’ said Kelly Widdicks.
The vast amounts of data consumption stems, primarily, from the way the internet beams its content through various locations before it is viewed.
A video watched online is sent to physical computer centres belonging to the company and then directed back to the user, wherever they are in the world.
Often, this can involve a UK consumer having their demand sent to the US before it is beamed back to them. This happens every time a new user views the video.
An aerial view of the Drax Power Station in Yorkshire – the report recommends fitting homes with smart meters
SUGGESTIONS FOR EVERY HOUSEHOLD TO HELP THE UK MEET CLIMATE TARGETS
Eating 20 per cent less lamb, beef, and dairy
Heating homes at no more than 19°C
Building thousands more offshore wind turbines
Planting enough forest to cover an area the size of Yorkshire – 5 per cent of the UK surface area
Banning the sale of new petrol cars by 2030 instead of the current 2040
The report also recommends households replace boilers with heat pumps
Homes could be fitted with ‘smart’ systems to help control heat and power use, as well as improvements in insulation and double glazing.
Paying subscribers to sites are an issue for the overall energy consumption, but the main issue is easily accessible and digestible bite-size content, such as on YouTube and other social media platforms.
The streaming giant recently surpassed two billion users a month and is responsible for nearly half of all online video demand.
Various devices in one household further compounds the issue as it increases data consumption and therefore energy usage.
The UK Government recently pledged to clamp down even further on carbon emissions, laying out some of the most ambitious plans in the world.
A report from the influential Committee on Climate Change called for the UK to slash the amount of greenhouse gases it produces completely by 2050.
Along with knocking the heating down to 19°C, households were urged to ditch gas boilers, cut their meat consumption, shun air travel and get out and walk more.
It said it would legislate to make Britain the first major world economy to reduce its carbon footprint to zero.
It is a dramatic increase from the current target of a reduction of 80 per cent by 2050, compared to 1990 levels.
The blueprint warns a reduction in greenhouse gases is needed to prevent a global catastrophe. If average temperatures rise by 3-4°C by the year 2100, we are heading for devastating heat waves, melting polar ice caps and rising sea levels, it said.
Currently, temperatures are on course to rise by 3°C at least and have already warmed by 1°C since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.
The report has mix of measures, some of which require government action, and others which households can carry out voluntarily.
The ‘Paris Agreement’ – signed by virtually all nations on Earth – commits the UK to keeping average temperatures down to below 2°C, with an ideal target of 1.5°C.
WHAT IS THE PARIS AGREEMENT?
The Paris Agreement, which was first signed in 2015, is an international agreement to control and limit climate change.
It hopes to hold the increase in the global average temperature to below 2°C (3.6ºF) ‘and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C (2.7°F)’.
It seems the more ambitious goal of restricting global warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F) may be more important than ever, according to previous research which claims 25 per cent of the world could see a significant increase in drier conditions.
In June 2017, President Trump announced his intention for the US, the second largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world, to withdraw from the agreement.
The Paris Agreement on Climate Change has four main goals with regards to reducing emissions:
1) A long-term goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels
2) To aim to limit the increase to 1.5°C, since this would significantly reduce risks and the impacts of climate change
3) Goverments agreed on the need for global emissions to peak as soon as possible, recognising that this will take longer for developing countries
4) To undertake rapid reductions thereafter in accordance with the best available science
Source: European Commission
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