Sending an email across the Atlantic Ocean does not burn any jet fuel, but the internet is not without its own, huge carbon footprint. One estimate suggests it takes a whopping 152 billion kilowatt-hours per year just to power the data centres that keep the net running. Add to that the energy used by all the computers and peripherals linked to it and the whole thing could be responsible for as much as 2 per cent of all human-made CO₂ emissions, putting it on a par with the aviation industry.

The way we use our computers also has an impact. According to Google, the production of the electricity needed for a single internet search generates 200 milligrams of CO₂. This may not sound much, but it adds up: 1000 searches produce the same CO₂ emissions as an average European car travelling 1 kilometre. Worse, internet traffic is currently growing at around 50 per cent each year. According to the international environmental coalition The Climate Group, total emissions from computers will increase by 280 per cent, to the equivalent of 1.4 gigatonnes of CO₂, by 2020.

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