THE internet has done many things – transforming the way we can do business is one, and breaking down some barriers is undoubtedly another.

Phenomenal growth in its applications and accessibility have played their part to such an extent that regular users are almost certainly in the “what did we do before it was invented” school of thought.

Give or take the occasional act of state censorship, as was in evidence during last summer's Olympics, it's fair to say not much gets in the way of the internet's biggest players. Or does it?

Research published earlier this week could change the way many Internet users go about their business. A Harvard University physicist, Alex Wissner-Gross, believes he has uncovered a previously hidden fact about the way we surf the web. Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to his findings.

When we are all happily tapping out our search requests, do we consider the environment? I suspect not. Until now perhaps.

A typical search generates about 7g of CO². Boiling a kettle generates about 15g. Such internet searches, says the academic, have a definite environmental impact.

When you consider that between us we conduct around 200m internet searches every day, you begin to see the scale of what the Harvard man is getting at.

Electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions caused by computers and the internet are provoking concern – and it's easy to see why. Wissner-Gross has submitted his research for publication by the US Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and has also set up a website www.CO2stats.com.

Make yourself a cuppa and have a look. Second thoughts . . .

MATT JOHNSON is chairman of Mando Group