In
"Virtual Worlds as Eco Incubators" Wagner James Au produces a cribsheet of green projects in Second Life. Worth noting is
Svarga:
"...a self-contained island created by a British programmer, which has physics-driven rain clouds that water plants and bees that pollinate flowers. There are real educational possibilities here: it’s a simulation of the planet in action."
Au also wonders if Virtual Worlds could save energy by cutting down on transport for business meetings and the like. He concludes by wondering if Second Life is ecologically sustainable:
"In the end, it’s safe to say Second Life, like any other Internet service that requires a larger server farm (i.e. Google, YouTube, etc.), requires a lot of power."
It's an interesting point - Virtual Worlds certainly are the first fictional creations to continuously use real energy unlike say,
Narnia or the
Discworld. Are large-scale virtual worlds worth their ecological cost?
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