Exact figures can be hard to calculate, but The Carbon Trust – an initiative from University of Bristol researchers, using data from media companies including the BBC, ITV, Netflix and Sky – has calculated that online video streaming creates carbon emissions of 56 grams of CO2 equivalent per device per hour, which they say is very small compared to other everyday activities.
This means that if you spent two hours a day streaming like the average person, you’d create emissions of almost 41kg of CO2 equivalent per year.
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Asked by: Ashley Warren, Chester
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