Before sitting down to write this article, I made myself a cup of tea and caught up on a box set episode. And while we all know the environmental impacts of boiling the kettle, the consequences of streaming our favourite films and music videos are, perhaps, less contemplated.

“Video makes up three quarters of the world’s internet use”, explains Beth Webb presenting her BBC documentary ‘Dirty Streaming’. This internet use is powered by huge data centres, that are connected by wires which form a network, globalising the need to stream. These data centres which are constantly working away twenty-four hours each day, produce a lot of heat. This means additional energy is needed to keep the centres cool. However, the presence of this whirring industrial scale machinery, has somehow managed to slip through the net and become overlooked as we continue to be more drawn to the glare of our screens. Crazily, data centres use around 70 billion kilowatt hours per year of energy to power our internet activities. To put this into perspective, one kilowatt per hour is enough to power ten 100-watt light bulbs for an hour, “or keep your smartphone charged for an entire year”! What’s worse is that as we continue to create more online content and scroll and stream for longer, we will need more data centres and therefore, more energy to power them. All in all, “the internet is doing some serious polluting”, (Dirty Streaming). Yet, the internet has brought hugely positive aspects to our way of life, so, is it possible to clean our stream? The resounding answer is yes and we can begin to do this through renewable energy!

Ultimately, the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy is quickening. “According to McKinsey, demand for fossil fuels will never return to pre-pandemic levels”. What’s more is that “low-cost renewables (are looking to start) outcompeting fossil fuel assets by 2030”. And one of the ways companies are looking to achieve this is through renewable methods such as wind farming. For example, Amazon, one of the biggest data collectors, “is set to double its renewable energy capability in Ireland with a new wind farm project” looking to begin in 2022. Amazon has publicly announced it hopes to have global operations 100 per cent renewable by 2025 and other companies are not far behind.

Wind energy is one of the fastest-growing renewable energy sources in the world, and here in the UK it is one of the nation’s industrial success stories. This cost-effective, sustainable and clean energy source is aiding the immense task of the UK aiming to reach net zero emissions by 2050. While appropriate land-based sites for wind farms can be far from cities and consideration for the impact on wildlife and productive land use is required, wind farming is overall a positive step forward to greening our energy.

For now, though, as we continue to use, enjoy and rely on the internet and other energy powered commodities, let’s consider their wider presence and impact. Using and creating less data is a great way to start thinking about how we use the internet. For example, “Instagram being petitioned to remove that infinite scroll, might be beneficial for the environment” (Beth Webb Dirty Streaming). Maybe streaming your favourite music video at a lower resolution is also a good start to being mindful about the impact of the internet on our planet.

Realising the mighty presence of the invisible and seemingly transparent thing we call the internet can be positive. After researching for this article, I am going to start taking more control of how I am using the technology around me, in the hope of switching off more and acknowledging the presence of the real world with greater appreciation. As someone once said, ‘balance is key’.

Thank you so much to photographer Celyn Bowen for contributing his stunning images to this article. To see more of his work, visit his Instagram.

Clean Streaming: Is It Possible?

Before sitting down to write this article, I made myself a cup of tea and caught up on a box set episode. And while we all know the environmental impacts of boiling the kettle, the consequences of streaming our favourite films and music videos are, perhaps, less contemplated.