> Taken all this into account, it is possible that the emissions from a ChatGPT query are more than a hundred times that of a conventional search query. But as I don't have enough data to back this up, I will keep the conservative estimates from above (50x - 90x; 60x most likely).<p>> Now, if we want sustainable ICT, then the sector as a whole needs to reduce its emissions to a quarter from the current ones by 2040. The combined increase in energy use and growth in adoption of ChatGPT-like applications is therefore deeply problematic.