Google's Energy Consumption Analysed

The Times reports on a study by a Harvard physicist: Revealed: the environmental impact of Google searches. The researcher claims that two Google searches produce as much CO2 emissions as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea (15g of CO2). Find that hard to believe? So do I, despite the vast array of computers that Google powers. A search takes the tiniest fraction of a second, so I can't see how it is at all possible for the total electrical energy consumption in that time to be remotely comparable to a kettle running for a minute or so.

Comments on the Times article are (mostly) equally dismissive.

The article also has a link on it: How to reduce the footprint of the Web.