a view from the edge

The steep, real costs of streaming TV

There is an environmental impact with all streaming services that you may not be aware of. Watching one hour of, say, Disney+ or Netflix, requires energy for that transmission. Those little wires you attach to your TV are fed a stream of electricity with the TV signal. Electricity needs to be produced, handled and streamed to your home.

So, with that one hour of steaming you have to calculate an equivalent of driving your normal car about 300 yards. Sounds like very little usage until you multiply it up, say four-plus hours a day, 365 days a year = 438,000 yards or 248 miles. If you’re doing 20 mpg, that’s the same equivalent of pollution from 12.44 gallons of gas. Just for that one TV.

In the USA, streaming accounts for 26% of all TV watching in 122,400,000 homes — or 31,824,000 homes that stream. Amount of CO2 emissions from those streamers per year? The emission from an equivalent of 395,890,560 gallon of gas, or 7,775,290,598 pounds of CO2.

A Boeing 737 produces/emits 198 pounds of CO2 per hour at 480 mph. So, the streaming TV CO2 emission for the USA is the equivalent of 39,269,144 hours of flying at cruise, which is a distance of 18,849,189,328 miles for a 737-passenger jet.

Just to help you understand this number, pre-COVID, the steaming CO2 emission was about 2.5% of all commercial flights in the USA. Once you add in out-of-office and schoolwork with video conferencing in 2020 and 2021, internet streaming and connectivity to homes across the nation that probably pushed to 10% of CO2 emissions of the total aviation industry and the equivalent of 800 million gallons of gas.

Some good news needs to be factored in here. Modern electronics and server technology is, in 2022 compared to 2018, twice as efficient already — and getting better every month.

What needs to be watched, however, is that those 90,576,000 homes currently not streaming will, eventually, all hook up and stream TV content.

And let’s not forget that schools, once kids are used to tablets and connectivity, are not about to go backwards either. An argument can be made that even with the minor per hour pollution of streaming TV users are polluting less than driving to a movie show, but all the studies conclude that once households get streaming service, their hours of consumption goes up — way up. In addition to which, the above calculations do not account for multiple TV sets in use at the same time.

Peter Riva, a former resident of Amenia Union, now resides in New Mexico.

a view from the edge
The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Millerton News and The News does not support or oppose candidates for public office.

Latest News

A scenic 32-mile loop through Litchfield County

A scenic 32-mile loop through Litchfield County

Whenever I need to get a quick but scenic bicycle ride but don’t have time to organize a group ride that involves driving to a meeting point, I just turn right out of my driveway. That begins a 32-mile loop through some of the prettiest scenery in northern Litchfield County.

I ride south on Undermountain Road (Route 41 South) into Salisbury and turn right on Main Street (Route 44 West). If I’m meeting friends, we gather at the parking area on the west side of Salisbury Town Hall where parking is never a problem.

Keep ReadingShow less
bike route

Biking Ancramdale to Copake

Biking Ancramdale to Copake

This is a lovely ride that loops from Ancramdale north to Copake and back. At just over 23 miles and about 1,300 feet of elevation gain, it’s a perfect route for intermediate recreational riders and takes about two hours to complete.It’s entirely on quiet roads with little traffic, winding through rolling hills, open countryside, picturesque farms and several lakes.

Along the way, you’ll pass a couple of farmstands that are worth a quick visit. There is only one hill that might be described as steep, but it is quite short — probably less than a quarter-mile.

Keep ReadingShow less
bike route

North East town records brought into the digital age

North East town records brought into the digital age

Chris Virtuoso reorganized parcel records in the North East Town Hall basement by parcel number during the process of scanning and digitizing the documents.

Photo by Grace DeMarco

MILLERTON — Within the walls of the two-story Victorian housing the North East Town Hall lies a room-full of town records dating back to the late 19th century. Stored in labeled cardboard boxes and protected by dehumidifiers, the records are in the process of being dated, organized, and scanned into categorized online programs.

As the Town Hall works to relocate to 5603 Route 22 at the former Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witness, the consolidation and digitalization of records, as well as the disposal of those unneeded, is a time-sensitive project. Marcy Wheatley, the Deputy Town Clerk, emphasized their current heavy focus on organizing and scanning. “Now, when we move, we can get rid of a lot,” Wheatley stated.

Keep ReadingShow less

Fun, food and facts bring crowds to downtown Millerton

Fun, food and facts bring crowds to downtown Millerton

Nora Garcia, 6, of Millerton, bottom right, gets a face painting treatment from Maddy Rowe, a Webutuck High School senior. Nora’s sister, Juliana, 8, top right, is decorated by Giana Kall, a Webutuck senior. The program was sponsored by the Webutuck PTA.

Photo by John Coston

Correction: the Millerton News Street Fair was a collaborative effort between the Millerton News, the Millerton Business Alliance and the North East Community Center.

MILLERTON — Locals and visitors packed into downtown Millerton Saturday, June 28, for the first ever Millerton Street Fair hosted by the Millerton News, the Millerton Business Alliance and the North East Community Center. Representatives from local nonprofits, businesses along Main Street, Bee Bee the Clown and face painters from Webutuck High School drew in crowds all afternoon.

Keep ReadingShow less