Challenge

The digital domain affects the planet we live on. Data centres run 24/7, and their networks consume plenty of watts. Loading a webpage on a 3G network can pull up to 5 watts of power per minute, while global data infrastructure consumes over 100 gigawatts. On the web, non-optimized images, and scripts—increase CO₂ impact. There is also the aspect of accessibility; across many parts of Africa, people still rely on 2G and 3G. I built co2audit.app as a challenge to myself; an attempt to gain a better understanding of the relation between the digital domain and CO₂ emissions.

Perspective

Nuxt 4 handles the frontend, layouts, and server logic through the Nitro server on Vercel. The app uses the Puppeteer API to handle configurations for CO2 measurement and emulate a real visitor. To avoid downloading or executing heavy binaries inside Vercel's server-less environment every time the app runs, Puppeteer hooks up to the Browserless API over a WebSocket. This API then acts as a headless (no UI) browser and executes the actions passed to it by the Puppeteer client.