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Summary: In order to understand the electricity use of Internet services, it is important to have accurate estimates for the average electricity intensity of transmitting data through the Internet (measured as kilowatt‐hours per gigabyte [kWh/GB]). This study identifies representative estimates for the average electricity intensity of fixed‐line Internet transmission networks over time and suggests criteria for making accurate estimates in the future. Differences in system boundary, assumptions used, and year to which the data apply significantly affect such estimates. Surprisingly, methodology used is not a major source of error, as has been suggested in the past. This article derives criteria to identify accurate estimates over time and provides a new estimate of 0.06 kWh/GB for 2015. By retroactively applying our criteria to existing studies, we were able to determine that the electricity intensity of data transmission (core and fixed‐line access networks) has decreased by half approximately every 2 years since 2000 (for developed countries), a rate of change comparable to that found in the efficiency of computing more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data centre services hold promise for reducing societal carbon emissions, but an imperfect and evolving portfolio of performance metrics obscures which data centre characteristics correspond to low-carbon operations. Meanwhile, policymakers face a pressing question: can we identify and promote tangible characteristics that reliably represent low-carbon data centres today while the world awaits better metrics? Fortunately, data centre energy models can provide actionable guidance. Here, we present results that identify such characteristics and illuminate the factors that govern a data centre's actual carbon performance. These results can help public and private sector policymakers accelerate the transition to a low-carbon Internet by aligning data centre incentives with factors that truly matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]