We often worry about the immense energy consumption of AI tools like ChatGPT, yet the true climate villain might be the digital escape we turn to every night.
Prepare to be shocked: the carbon footprint left by your casual Netflix binge is significantly greater than what is generated by conversing with a sophisticated AI.
The Surprising Scale of Our Digital Carbon
A new study by TRG Datacenters looked into the carbon footprint of our daily digital habits and modern AI tools. It analysed the power consumption and corresponding carbon output of typical applications and artificial intelligence programmes.
The researchers measured energy consumption for common activities such as streaming video, sending emails, and making video calls, alongside a variety of AI tools. These tools included chatbots, image generators, voice assistants, and text-to-video programmes.
A typical individual living in a developed economy generates about 10,000 kilograms of CO2 annually, and our growing reliance on digital systems is pushing this figure up.
To find out which everyday technologies leave the largest environmental trace, data infrastructure specialist TRG Datacenters conducted a new study.
As part of the study, it measured electricity consumption and carbon emissions from regular online activities, including streaming, emailing, virtual meetings, and modern AI applications such as chatbot queries, image generation, smart assistant use, and text-to-video creation.
To provide a distinct comparison, each activity was then ranked by its overall environmental impact.
1. Streaming's Hidden Cost: YouTube and Netflix
YouTube and Netflix streaming are jointly responsible for the most significant carbon footprint among all measured digital activities. Watching one hour of high-definition video on either platform generates 42 grams of C02.
This high figure is due to streaming requiring constant data transfer and server processing throughout. This continuous demand results in an energy use of 0.12 kWh per hour, surpassing all other actions reviewed in the study. To put this in perspective, an individual who streams for just 2 hours a day will produce over 30 kilograms of CO2 in a year.
2. Text-to-Video: The Third-Largest Emitter
Text-to-video generation ranks third among technologies with the largest environmental footprint. Producing a brief video clip, typically lasting between six and ten seconds, creates 17.5 grams of C02.
These programmes demand substantial computing resources to construct video imagery from written prompts, consuming 0.05 kWh of energy for only a minimal period of output.
3. Zoom Call
Following closely in carbon emissions is a one-hour Zoom call, which typically generates 17 grams of CO2. Video conferencing consumes 0.0486 kWh per hour because it must continuously encode, transmit, and decode both video and audio in real time.
Having a daily, hour-long work meeting could result in about 6 kilograms of CO2 over a year.
4. The Hidden Weight of Your Inbox (Small Email)
Sending a short email is the fifth-largest environmental impact, generating approximately 4.7 grams of CO2 per message without attachments. Each electronic message consumes 0.0133 kWh of energy.
Although a single text may seem insignificant, the billions of emails sent daily accumulate quickly. An individual sending fifty electronic messages each day would ultimately generate around 85 kilograms of CO2 annually from that one email account alone.
5. The Carbon Cost of AI Art (Image Generation)
AI image generation also features on this list. These programmes use 0.003 kWh to transform written descriptions into images, meaning that producing one image emits just 1 gram of CO2.
Compared to generating a video, this impact is 17 times lower. However, it is still ten times greater than the carbon produced by simply posing a question to an AI chatbot.
6. The Minimal Footprint of Voice Assistants
AI voice assistant queries rank seventh, producing just 0.175 grams of CO2 per question. Assistants like Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant consume 0.0005 kWh per query.
This lower environmental load is due to these systems generally handling straightforward commands and providing fast answers. In fact, you would have to ask your voice assistant approximately 240 questions to equal the carbon emitted by watching a single hour of streamed video.
7. Search and Chatbot Queries: The Lowest Impact
Google search and AI chatbot queries rank together in eighth place, with both actions generating around 0.105 grams of CO2 each time they are used. A single Google search consumes 0.0003 kWh, the same amount of energy required to ask a question of ChatGPT or similar AI assistants.
This finding implies that an individual could complete roughly 1,000 searches or chatbot questions before equalling the emissions created by just one hour of video streaming.
8. Gemini Text Prompts: The Lightest Touch
Gemini text prompts rank last in the carbon footprint comparison, producing 0.084 grams of CO2 per two prompts submitted. This means each prompt generates only 0.042 grams, establishing it as the least impactful activity measured.
We have data on the environmental impact per AI prompt:
— Ethan Mollick (@emollick) August 22, 2025
Gemini: 0.00024 kWh & 0.26 mL water
ChatGPT: 0.0003 kWh & 0.38 mL
...the same energy as one Google search in 2008 & 6 drops of water.
Seems to be improving, too: Google reports a 33x drop in energy use per prompt in a year. pic.twitter.com/wcfMYA5rU5
Gemini consumes 0.00024 kWh for two prompts, demonstrating that slight variations in carbon emissions exist across different AI models.
Rebalancing the Digital Debate
Ultimately, these findings should reframe the public debate around digital energy consumption. While advanced AI tools like chatbots and search engines have a minimal carbon impact, our most routine and comfortable digital habit—streaming—carries a surprisingly heavy environmental burden.
It is clear that if we want to reduce our personal digital footprint, we should focus less on the occasional AI query and more on making our daily hours of video consumption more sustainable.
