62 Trillion Spam E-mails by Spammers

All those junk e-mails that clog your Inbox is not only a huge inconvenience but a colossal waste of energy.

According to a report released this week by computer security company McAfee, spammers have generated last year, a huge 62 billion junk e-mails.

All those junk e-mails that clog your Inbox is not only a huge inconvenience but a colossal waste of energy.

According to a report released this week by computer security company McAfee, spammers have generated last year, a huge 62 billion junk e-mails.

What does this mean in terms of energy?

Instead of sending messages asking for money or the marketing of Viagra, the electricity used for sending e-mails could have fed 2.4 million households for a year or drive a car around the planet 1.6 times, according to the report.

This energy waste is also polluting the environment.

All that power also emits greenhouse gases. McAfee researchers say every junk e-mail emits 0.3 grams of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2). This May not seem like much, but if one considers the overall annual volume of spam, after all.

Spam Grand Carbon Footprint

Spam emissions for all e-mail users worldwide in 2008 totaled 17 million tons of CO2, according to ICF International, the consulting firm in partnership with McAfee to the study. That is, 2 percent of total global emissions.

"The amount released into the atmosphere is important," said Dave Marcus, director of security research from McAfee. "Spam is a large carbon footprint. This is something that people should be aware of. "

The report said that nearly 80 percent of spam-related emissions of greenhouse gases come from energy burned by PC users to view, delete and search for legitimate e-mail under mounds waste. To view and waste a piece of spam takes about 3 seconds, McAfee said.

Marcus said about 85 to 91 percent of all e-mail is spam, but consumers can reduce their burden of spam while surfing the Net with a little more care.

For example, when you use a website to participate in online discussions or post comments, make sure that your name has nothing to do with your e-mail. And think twice before using the auto-complete feature of your browser as it will allow spammers to harvest in May of personal information. Some experts also advise to change your e-mail an.

But what could all that wasted energy-spam do? Click on the next page to discover these estimates based on the report from McAfee and Carbonfund.org.

Instead of sending messages asking for money or the marketing of Viagra, the electricity used for sending e-mails could have fed 2.4 million households for a year or drive a car around the planet 1.6 times, according to the report.

This energy waste is also polluting the environment.

All that power also emits greenhouse gases. McAfee researchers say every junk e-mail emits 0.3 grams of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2). This May not seem like much, but if one considers the overall annual volume of spam, after all.

Spam Grand Carbon Footprint

Spam emissions for all e-mail users worldwide in 2008 totaled 17 million tons of CO2, according to ICF International, the consulting firm in partnership with McAfee to the study. That is, 2 percent of total global emissions.

"The amount released into the atmosphere is important," said Dave Marcus, director of security research from McAfee. "Spam is a large carbon footprint. This is something that people should be aware of. "

The report said that nearly 80 percent of spam-related emissions of greenhouse gases come from energy burned by PC users to view, delete and search for legitimate e-mail under mounds waste. To view and waste a piece of spam takes about 3 seconds, McAfee said.

Marcus said about 85 to 91 percent of all e-mail is spam, but consumers can reduce their burden of spam while surfing the Net with a little more care.

For example, when you use a website to participate in online discussions or post comments, make sure that your name has nothing to do with your e-mail. And think twice before using the auto-complete feature of your browser as it will allow spammers to harvest in May of personal information. Some experts also advise to change your e-mail an.

But what could all that wasted energy-spam do? Click on the next page to discover these estimates based on the report from McAfee and Carbonfund.org.