According to a study by Tradingplatforms, watch 30 minutes of movies and TV series on Netflix produces the release of about 1.6kg CO2. That is the equivalent of a 6 km car journey. A seemingly negligible number, were it not for the fact that the platform’s subscribers cumulatively watch thousands of hours of content around the world every day.
“Streaming services are growing in popularity, but they also come with hidden environmental costs,” Edith Reads writes on the Tradingplaftorms blog. “Of course Netflix is not the only digital service with a huge” carbon footprint caused by its data centers”
Netflix is clearly well aware of its environmental impact and Reads itself states that the company has set itself the goal of significantly reducing the pollution caused by its service. “Netflix has set some ambitious goals to reduce emissions, it wants to become a zero-carbon company very quickly.”
Obviously Netflix will never really bring them down to zero Co2 emissions, but like other large companies, it can focus on so-called carbon neutrality. That is, a parity that is reached when the emissions produced and the emissions subtracted (for example, by producing energy from renewable energy sources) are equal. For example, Netflix could aim to significantly increase the percentage of energy needs met by renewable sources and also decide to invest in projects, non-profit initiatives and scientific research aimed at having a positive impact on the environment and preserving the planet.
TradingPlatforms specifies that Netflix’s emissions depend not only on streaming, but also on the offices and on the easy management of the company’s network infrastructures.
Source: Lega Nerd
