Futurist Kevin Kelly has done a back-of-the-napkin calculation showing that the Internet uses about 5% of global electricity. This number doesn't include mobile devices that require charging up. This power-sucker has gone from using a tiny percentage of global electricity just 15 years ago, to using 5%. And as the internet grows, along with server megafarm-based businesses like Google, that number is likely to grow larger very quickly. Whenever I see this kind of data, I always worry about the sum total of world knowledge being dependent on electrical power. If we're not careful, the internet and all its goodies will flame out in a knowledge-apocalypse moment millions of times worse than the one that destroyed the library at Alexandria. AP Photo by Jay LaPrete.

How much power does the internet consume? [via The Technium]

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