Is streaming video as bad as people say compared with flying?
Digital footprints get a lot of attention. Putting them on the same scale as a flight fixes the intuition.
Compared on: per activity, one person
One hour of HD streaming
0.055 kg CO₂eData centre, network and device energy on a European grid.
Source: IEA analysis of streaming energy intensity
A year of daily 2-hour streaming
40 kg CO₂e730 hours at the same intensity.
Source: IEA analysis of streaming energy intensity
One return short-haul flight
266 kg CO₂eLondon–Paris return with radiative forcing uplift.
Source: DEFRA/DESNZ UK conversion factors
One return long-haul flight
2.60 t CO₂eLondon–New York return, economy, with radiative forcing uplift.
Source: DEFRA/DESNZ UK conversion factors — long-haul international
What this means
- A whole year of heavy streaming is a fraction of one short-haul return flight.
- One long-haul return flight outweighs about 65 years of that streaming habit.
- Spend attention where the tonnes are: flying, driving, heating and beef.
Your own number, not an average
Averages answer the question; your own footprint tells you what to change first. The calculator takes about two minutes and needs no account.
Figures are averages drawn from public databases and peer-reviewed LCA work; see our methodology for how each factor is applied.