To Google or Not to Google...That is the Question?

Writer: The Tank Report
Topic: Google, Killing the Atmosphere One Cup of Tea at a Time

Claim:

Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of Carbon Dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea.

Because:

Of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Data:

Supported and tested by a Harvard physicist, a scientist and a number of other notary individuals. These recent findings on the environmental impact of computing are due soon.

Warrant:

· Google is the leading search engine on the internet so it could be possible for it to contribute to carbon dioxide in the industry.
· Everyone uses Google!
· Everything runs with electricity. Google could possibly contribute that much to the carbon dioxide increase because we live in a technologically advanced world.

Grounds:

· Statistics were used which showed proof to the claim.
o A typical search generates about 7g of Carbon Dioxide. Boiling water generates 15g.
· Google refuses to divulge in the locations of their data centers. These centers produce the majority of the green house gases which the entire claim is about.
· Internet provider generates as much as greenhouse gases as the world’s airlines.

Qualifiers:

The author shows how google is at the forefront of “green computing.” This angle takes the claim to another perspective.

Rebuttal:

· Google sends information over servers in the United States, Europe, Japan and China in the fastest rate possible. However, google does have competitors. All together they raise the energy consumption. WHY BLAME only GOOGLE?
· Google is not the only high speed internet provider
· Google argues that they are the most efficient of all internet search providers when it comes to green computing

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