Gaming‘s Carbon Footprint: Surprisingly Lower Than Everyday Activities, But โฃGrowing Globally
PARIS – Aโ new โคstudy โby Greenly reveals the surprising โขenvironmental impact of video gaming, finding it โfrequently enough generates less carbon emissions than common โactivities like drivingโ short distances โฃorโ playingโ aโ round of golf, but warns of a critically importent global footprint driven by the industry’sโ massive scale and the rise of artificial intelligence.
The study highlights the energy consumption โof gaming โขconsoles and theโค CO2 emissions resulting from โtheir operation and production. For example, the Playstation 4 alone isโ estimated to have generated 8.9 billion kilogramsโ ofโ CO2 overโ the past decade.โฃ
Greenly โestimates PC โฃgaming โขconsumes 146kWh of electricity annually, equating โคto 84 kg of CO2 equivalent – lessโ than the average 304 kWh used โฃby anโฃ air conditioner, according to Ademe. “Over โthe year, wiht the way theโ French โขplay, that represents โa quarter ofโค a ton,” explains Alexis โคNormand, CEO of Greenly, adding that this is comparableโค to the carbon footprint of a roundtrip flight โคfrom Paris to โขNew โYork (one ton of CO2) and represents a small โฃfraction of the average โขFrench person’sโฃ annual โฃcarbon consumption of 11 tons.
Online gaming’s carbonโค footprint is also relatively modest, โขwith an hour of Fortnite estimated to generate 0.04โข to 0.06 kCO2e/hโค (kilograms of CO2 equivalent per hour), comparable to an hourโข of video streaming.
However, the study reveals a stark contrast when considering the global scale โof gaming. Mobile gaming, with its โข2.9 billion daily active players, accounts for 58 million tonnes of CO2e per year – equivalent to the annual โemissions of Greece.”People have theโฃ impression that โsence it’s digital, it’s not carbon-intensive, even though it represents 4% of global emissions,” Normand โcautions.
The report also points to the growing threat of โฃdata centers, whose โขexpansion isโ outpacing the advancement ofโฃ clean energy โinfrastructure, possibly negating gains made in the energy transition.โข
Interestingly,โ Normandโ suggests a counterintuitive way to mitigate gaming’s impact: “Ultimately, to be sureโ to play eco-friendly, launch your PC games with all the graphics at max: likeโข this, theโ computer will also serveโฃ as your heater.”