Dark Cloud

A gripping new investigation into the underbelly of digital technology, which reveals not only how costly the virtual world is, but how damaging it is to the environment.If digital technology were a country, it would be the third-highest consumer of electricity behind China and the United States.Every year, streaming technology generates as much greenhouse gas as Spain — close to 1 per cent of global emissions.One Google search uses as much electricity as a lightbulb left on for up to two minutes.It turns out that the ‘dematerialised’ digital world, essential for communicating, working, and consuming, is much more tangible than we would like to believe. Today, it absorbs 10 per cent of the world’s electricity and represents nearly 4 per cent of the planet’s carbon dioxide emissions. We are struggling to understand these impacts, as they are obscured to us in the mirage of ‘the cloud’. The result of an investigation carried out over two years on four continents, The Dark Cloud reveals the anatomy of a technology that is virtual only in name. Under the guise of limiting the impact of humans on the planet, it is already asserting itself as one of the major environmental challenges of the twenty-first century.

‘Guillaume Pitron recalls the origins of digital technology and explains how this new communication tool has catastrophic consequences on our environment … What happens when you send an email? What is the geography of clicks? What ecological and geopolitical challenges do they bring without our knowledge? This is the subject of The Dark Cloud … For two years, the journalist followed, on four continents, the route of our emails, our likes, and our vacation photos.’, ‘It reveals the environmental cost of a dematerialised sector. Between the strategies of the giants who keep us in the illusion of a clean internet and the difficulty of feeling pollution that has no taste or smell, the investigator reveals the underside of the internet.’, ‘An incredible investigation.’, ‘Absolutely fascinating.’, ‘A landmark book.’

Guillaume Pitron, born in 1980, is a French award-winning journalist and documentary-maker for France’s leading television channels. His work focuses on commodities and on the economic, political, and environmental issues associated with their use. The Rare Metals War, his first book, sold 80,000 copies in France and has been translated into ten languages. Guillaume Pitron holds a master’s degree in international law from the University of Georgetown (Washington, DC), and is a TEDx speaker. More information at www.en-guillaumepitron.com. Bianca Jacobsohn is a South African and French translator and conference interpreter who specialises in energy, finance, strategic metals, and diplomacy. More information at www.biancajacobsohn.com.