Go ahead and watch a movie on Netflix!
In October 2019, many news outlets (including Phys.org) reported that watching half an hour of Netflix would emit the same amount of carbon dioxide (1.6 kg) as driving four miles. This appears to be yet another amazing “factoid” about information technology’s environmental footprint that has little relationship to reality.
I dug into the calculations, at the prompting of the BBC, and figured out the real story. Half an hour of Netflix emits less than 20 grams of carbon dioxide, probably much less. The BBC interviewed me last week and did a nice story about it.
Listen to the episode here (it is the first story in the 28 minute show).
Download a podcast version here (grab the one from Friday January 24, 2020, titled “Netflix and Chill”).
