Gaming Releases As Much CO2 As 5 Million Cars

When talking about global warming, most of us think about factories, fridges, air-conditioners, and the like. But according to a recent study, the CO2 emission from gaming is equal to that of 5 million cars.

The study says that US gamers consume 34 TWh (terawatt-hours) per year. To compare, this number is equal to 2.4% of the total residential electricity. And that electricity consumption is greater than all the freezers around the country.

It’s pointed out in the study that consoles like Xbox One and PS4 contributed as much as 66% of power consumption. Meanwhile, PC desktops account for 31% and gaming laptops make up 3%.

Though gaming on PCs doesn’t have the largest power consumption, it's among the least power-efficient activities. You need a large amount of power to run a fully-loaded gaming computer that has a multi-screen setup with 4K monitors, multiple GPUs, and water-cooled units. This depends on the owner's decision, which leads to excessive power consumption if they make the incorrect choice.

However, technology is growing to make gaming equipment use power more efficiently, Nvidia and its GPUs for example. To run the GeForce GTX 275 made in 2011, you need at least a 55W PSU; but to run the GeForce 1050Ti that offers twice as much power, you just need the basic 450W PSU. CPUs have also witnessed the same trend.

In addition, the study provides some tips to become a greener gamer such as using Full HD monitors instead of 4K ones, limiting GPU frame rate using V-Sync and similar features, or switching to undervolting rather than overclocking.