Gwangju Seo-gu, Operating 'Day of Emptiness' to Reduce Carbon Emissions

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Shin Dong-ho] Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (District Mayor Seo Dae-seok) announced on the 7th that it will operate "Emptying Day" on the first Wednesday of every month starting from the 6th.

Seo-gu has seen a surge in electricity consumption and carbon emissions at data centers due to increased email usage, as non-face-to-face activities such as telecommuting have increased recently due to COVID-19.

Unnecessary emails are stored in data centers, which operate 24 hours a day without shutting down, requiring cooling devices to be run simultaneously to dissipate heat.

At this time, 32 kWh of electricity is consumed per 1GB.

Currently, there are approximately 2.3 billion email users worldwide. If each person deletes 50 emails, 8,625,000 GB of space can be saved, resulting in a power saving of 276,000,000 kWh.

This is equivalent to saving the energy of turning off 2.7 billion light bulbs for one hour.

Seo-gu plans to actively contribute to reducing carbon emissions by promoting a campaign for all employees to delete unnecessary emails and data on the first week of every month, encouraging regular deletion of unnecessary emails and data.

Additionally, related promotional phrases will be included at the bottom of official documents to gradually expand participation among related organizations, companies, and citizens.

A Seo-gu official said, "We hope for active participation in the mailbox emptying campaign, which can be joined through small daily practices," adding, "It will help build a consensus on carbon neutrality and significantly contribute to reducing greenhouse gases in the public sector."

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Shin Dong-ho sdhs6751@asiae.co.kr

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.