Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate the seme amount amount of harmful carbon dioxide as boiling an electric kettle for a cup of tea,according to a new research quoted recently.

A typical search generates about seven grams of CO2 whereas an electric kettle generates about 15 gm. The Sunday Times quoted a Harvard Univercity physicist as saying. “A google search has a definite envoirnmental impact,” says Alex Wissner-Gross, whos research due out soon.

The newspaper said the Google is “secretive” about its energy consumption and carbon footprint, and refuses to divulge the locations of its data centers. “However with 200 million internet searches estimated globally daily, the electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions caused by computers and internet is provoking concern,” the newspaper said. A recent report on information technology analysts Gartner said the global IT industry generates as much greenhouse gas, which contribute to global warming, as the airlines industry. The Google system, which sends search queries to several competiting servers that may be thousands of miles apart, “minimises delays, but rises energy consumption.” Wissner-Gross has submitted his research for publication by the US Institute of Electricals and Electronics Engineers and has set up a website www.CO2stats.com. “Google are very efficient, but their primary concern is to make searches fast and that means they have a lot of extra capacity that burns energy,” the physicist said.