This last year, we in the United States witnessed California nearly brought to its knees because of an energy crisis. In particular, the Silicon Valley, an area known for its computer industries, were hit the hardest. The need for energy had grown so great and the influx of so many people because of all the dotcom booms caused the circuits to overload. People blame the energy companies and the way they were maintained. But the fact still remains.
Computers require energy both to create and maintain.
The Internet could not exist with computers. Thus, the Internet needs energy and that energy has to come from someplace. The more people that get onto the Internet, that own computers or means to logon, increases the demand for energy. Then comes the debate, leave it on or turn it off. Some computer users leave their computers on all the time.