Every month Google consumes enough energy to wash 5 million loads of laundry

"To mark Earth Day 2011, WordStream Inc., a provider of search marketing software, has compiled research revealing the environmental effects, good and bad, of our ever-growing Internet dependence, including data on the energy usage and CO2 emissions of Google searches and email spam.
Research findings include:
- In 2005, the 10.3 million data centers in the U.S. used 61 billion kWh of energy -- enough to power the entire U.K. for two years.
- One Google search produces the same amount of CO2 as driving a car three inches.
- Every month, Google consumes enough energy to wash 5 million loads of laundry.
- The 62 trillion spam messages sent each year produce the equivalent CO2 emissions of 1.6 million cars driving around the planet."

Source:  Data compiled by the internet marketing company WordStream, published as a press release, 21st April 2011