A new study by Europe Economics introduces a methodology to estimate the energy consumption of digital services compared to physical alternatives. Commissioned by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the report explores how digital services and data centers impact energy usage in the UK. The research evaluates energy consumption along the entire delivery chain for both digital and physical services, highlighting energy use by data centers, transmission networks, and end-user devices. Three specific use cases were examined, showing that digital options are either comparable to or less energy-intensive than physical alternatives. The study aims to isolate energy use attributable to the service itself, regardless of economic growth from digitalization.

Read more at Yahoo Finance: Study develops new methodology to estimate energy consumption of digital services