Cloud Computing Sustainability

Summary

Compared to traditional data centers, 30_Knowledge/Cloud Computing has reduction potentials in terms of energy and resources, but also brings risks due to rebound effects, among other things.

Promises by Cloud Providers

Shared Responsibility Model

AWS and Azure use the "shared responsibility model" to communicate that there are different responsibilities for customers and the provider.

Cloud Computing - Sustainability-1680180125518.jpeg

Source: The shared responsibility model (@AmazonWebServices.2023.SustainabilityPillarAWS)

Sustainability of the cloud: lower carbon footprint and more energy efficient than typical on-premises alternatives

Sustainability in the cloud: energy reduction and efficiency across all components of a workload

Sustainability through the cloud: workloads are designed to support wider sustainability challenges

Infrastructure Side

Overview:

Sustainability of Cloud Providers

Hyperscaler:

Other Providers:

Electricity Consumption & Carbon Emissions

Carbon Emissions of Cloud Computing

How to make data centers low-carbon?

Environmental Risks

Negative Environmental Aspects of Cloud Computing

Software Side

Responsibility of Software

Energy-efficient Deployment and Operation of Software in the Cloud

Resiliency & Sustainability in the Cloud

CNCF Sustainability Landscape

For an overview see the Cloud Native Sustainability Landscape by the CNCF TAG Environmental Sustainability.

Reporting of Carbon Emissions

Cloud Carbon Dashboards & APIs

Standards

Alternatives to Cloud Computing

Decentralized Small Data Centers