The cost of email: Major carbon generating countries revealed


By Dr. Tim Sandle
July 23, 2024
DIGITAL JOURNAL

Computer laptop. — Image © Tim Sandle

A new study finds that sending and receiving emails emits about 1344.3 tons of carbon globally on a daily basis. Looking at one specific country, the UK sends 8.32 billion emails daily causing a carbon footprint of 2,751 tons. In contrast, the US emits 3,207 tons of carbon dioxide by sending out 9.7 billion emails daily.

Data has been compiled by the firm Zero Bounce around the countries sending out the most emails daily, resulting in the most amount of carbon dioxide emissions. The study used the most recent reports of population numbers from the World Population Review.

The information about the percentage of email users was retrieved from the reports by Statista and the reports about the number of emails sent out per country were taken from the Talos Intelligence website.

It is globally recognized that on average one email transaction emits 0.3 grams of carbon dioxide. The carbon footprint was calculated according to the number of emails sent out per user. For clearer results, the grams were translated into tons. Per capita carbon footprint is indicated in grams.

Country	Population	% of email users	Number of email users	Emails sent in billions daily	Daily Carbon footprint in tons (0.3 grams per email)	Daily Carbon footprint in grams per user
United States	341,814,420	89.45%	305,752,998.69	9.7	3,207.67	9.52
Germany	83,252,474	83.00%	69,099,553.42	8.5	2,810.85	36.90
Ireland	5,089,478	93%	4,733,214.54	8.4	2,777.78	532.41
Netherlands	17,671,125	90.00%	15,904,012.50	8.35	2,761.24	157.51
United Kingdom	67,961,439	85.00%	57,767,223.15	8.32	2,751.32	43.21
France	64,881,830	94%	60,988,920.20	8.31	2,748.02	40.88
Austria	8,977,139	80%	7,181,711.20	8.27	2,734.79	345.46
Japan	122,631,432	75%	91,973,574.00	8.25	2,728.17	26.91
India	1,441,719,852	82.40%	1,187,977,158.05	8.2	2,711.64	2.07
Belgium	11,715,774	86.21%	10,100,168.77	8.1	2,678.57	240.59

The U.S. tops the ranking, with the most amount of daily carbon emissions because of email use. 89.45 percent of the US population uses emails, emitting on average 3,207 tons of carbon dioxide daily.Each user, on average, sends or receives 31.72 emails per day, contributing 9.52 grams to the daily carbon footprint per capita. The United States’ email activity accounts for 6.82 percent of the overall world email traffic, the second largest in the list.

Germany ranks second with the total amount of carbon emissions due to email transactions. Germans use email, equating to 69 million out of 83.2 million users. Germans send 8.5 billion emails daily, generating a daily carbon footprint of 2,550,000 kilograms or 2,810 tons. Each user, on average, sends or receives 123.01 emails per day, resulting in a per capita carbon footprint of 36.90 grams.

Ireland ranks third, with the highest amount of carbon emitted daily at roughly 532 grams per user. 4.7 million individuals out of 5 million uses email. The country sends 8.4 billion emails daily, leading to a significant daily carbon footprint of 2777 tons. Ireland’s email activity represents.

A statement from Zero Bounce explains: “There is a substantial carbon emission from email usage, that emphasizes the need for greater awareness and strategies to reduce the digital carbon footprint. Understanding the environmental impact of our digital communication practices is crucial for developing sustainable solutions and mitigating climate change.”