What Is a Digital Carbon Footprint? Its Impact and How Students Can Reduce It

The digital carbon footprint, a hidden danger in the digital age. (Source: Unsplash/Gilles Lambert)

A digital carbon footprint is the greenhouse gas emissions our online activity produces. It comes from three places: the devices we use, the data centres that store our files and videos, and the networks that move data between them.

The internet is easy to picture as weightless. In reality, every message, video and cloud file depends on data centres that run around the clock.

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How Big Is the Impact of Digital Carbon Footprint?

The most current figures come from the International Energy Agency. In 2024, data centres worldwide consumed roughly 415 terawatt-hours of electricity, about 1.5% of global consumption. That figure has grown about 12% a year since 2017, more than 4 times the overall growth rate of electricity demand.

The IEA expects it to more than double to around 945 terawatt-hours by 2030, slightly more than Japan’s total electricity consumption today.

ITU’s Greening Digital Companies 2025 report adds the corporate picture. The 164 digital companies that reported electricity use consumed 581 terawatt-hours in 2023, or 2.1% of global electricity, with ten companies accounting for half. ITU also found four leading AI-focused companies saw operational emissions rise roughly 150% on average since 2020.

Google’s 2025 environmental report points to the same trend, recording an 11% year-on-year rise in total company emissions and 51% above its 2019 baseline.

Is a Single AI Prompt Really That Wasteful?

In August 2025, Google published the first concrete numbers. A median text prompt in Gemini uses about 0.24 watt-hours of electricity and produces 0.03 grams of CO2e, which Google compares to watching television for under nine seconds.

So the guilt many people feel about asking a chatbot a question is aimed at the wrong target. What accumulates is not one prompt but billions daily, plus the energy spent training the models. At a personal level, other habits matter far more.

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How Can Students Reduce Their Digital Footprint?

1. Keep your devices longer: This is the biggest lever, and the one least often mentioned. Apple’s September 2025 report for the iPhone 17 puts a single unit’s lifetime footprint at 55 kg CO2e, with manufacturing as the largest share. Delaying an upgrade by a year or two, and repairing rather than replacing, outweighs everything else here.

2. Lower your streaming resolution: Watching in 4K consumes far more data than 480p. For a video you are only half-listening to while working, 720p is plenty.

3. Share links instead of attachments: One file emailed to ten people means ten copies on a server. A shared link means there is only ever one.

4. Let your devices sleep: Set sleep mode to start after 15 minutes of inactivity, and shut the laptop down overnight.

5. Write clearer AI prompts the first time: One specific request costs less than ten attempts that miss.

You may also wonder, what about deleting old emails? It helps, but only slightly. Treat it as housekeeping, not your main contribution.

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Start With What You Already Own

A digital carbon footprint is invisible, not absent. But the scale of the problem lies with data centres and the companies that run them, not your inbox.

That is not an excuse to do nothing. It just means choosing the habits that carry weight. For most students, that is one decision: hold on to the laptop and phone you already have longer than you planned. Everything else here is a supplement to that, not a substitute for it.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is a digital carbon footprint?

The greenhouse gas emissions generated by digital activity, covering energy used by personal devices, data centres and network infrastructure.

2. How much electricity do data centres use?

About 415 terawatt-hours in 2024, roughly 1.5% of global electricity consumption, according to the IEA. That is projected to reach around 945 terawatt-hours by 2030.

3. How much energy does one AI prompt use?

Google reports that a median Gemini text prompt uses about 0.24 watt-hours and emits 0.03 grams of CO2e, comparable to watching television for less than nine seconds.

4. What is the most effective way to reduce a digital carbon footprint?

Keeping devices in use longer, because most of a phone or laptop’s emissions come from manufacturing rather than daily use.

By Levina Chrestella Theodora

English translation by Levina Chrestella Theodora

Kuliah di Jakarta untuk jurusan Program Studi Informatika | Sistem Informasi | Teknik Komputer | Teknik Elektro | Teknik Fisika | Akuntansi | Manajemen | Komunikasi Strategis | Jurnalistik | Desain Komunikasi Visual | Film dan Animasi | Arsitektur | D3 Perhotelan , di Universitas Multimedia Nusantara. umn.my.id