Impact of User Interaction Patterns on Website Carbon Emissions Across Industries

With the growing concerns on climate change and increasing use of digital services, understanding their carbon footprint has become paramount. The study models web browsing energy intensity over time and combines it with regional grid carbon intensity data and user traffic to estimate the emissions from different websites. The primary aim is to provide a temporal view, highlighting patterns and offering insights into the environmental impact of digital activities. For users, this research offers an understanding of their individual digital footprints. For service providers, it sheds light on the overall footprint considering their website traffic. A significant outlier identified in the study is the news category, which exhibited markedly higher carbon emissions compared to other website categories.