Half a milliliter of water needed per Google search

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The IEEE Interactive map shows the relationship between energy and water, and the report reveals the amount needed for a Google search.

A special report entitled "Where water meets watts" from the international organization the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) examines the relationship between water and energy. The report calculates that a single Google search requires half a milliliter of water in energy, and therefore the 300 million searches worldwide, each day require 150,000 liters of water to produce to produce the required electrical power.

The IEEE has released a unique map that shows the relationship between water and energy. Users scroll the world map and click on highlighted countries; data is then displayed giving an insight into the relationship between water and energy, the percentage of the population with access to clean water, renewable energy per capita and oil consumption per person and the methods being used to try to alleviate the problem of shortages.

Water shortages are becoming increasingly severe as the world struggles to produce the amount of power it requires; as a result several innovative schemes have been implemented over the globe. For example Singapore has introduced a scheme which collects and cleans waste water before reintroducing a small proportion of it back into the island's main water supply. Scottsdale, Arizona, Northern Virginia and Orange County California also have similar schemes.

It is hoped that the IEEE's map will encourage global awareness of regional and worldwide water shortage problems, prompting people to consider their water usage. A number of websites also offer personal water consumption calculators including http://www.csgnetwork.com/waterusagecalc.html , and   http://www.waterfootprint.org .