We are living in the 21st century and for some reason, it means we have to deal with a lot of changes at once and by changes, I mean not only rapidly growing technology changes but also environmental ones. As per ourworldindata.org, “Today, we collectively emit around 50 billion tons of CO2e each year. This is more than 40% higher than emissions in 1990, which were around 35 billion tones”. It is apparent that we are now thinking about how to minimize such emissions and for some reason, cloud computing has been really efficient in this.
Because cloud computing has virtualized server usage and minimized physical ones, much less electricity is being consumed, thus using fewer devices any organization can proactively reduce its electronic waste.
This way, through green cloud computing, organizations are successfully minimizing energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.
Green Cloud Computing and its meaning
Lately, it has become popular to hear about “Green Cloud Computing”. One can wonder what does cloud computing has to do with “green” or energy consumption really. Well, actually, a lot!
Adding the word Green to Cloud Computing means referring to any potential benefits that cloud computing services can offer to society and its environment. Green – means eco-friendly.
So, by using green cloud computing, companies tend to 1. Increase the energy efficiency of a device during its lifecycle, 2. Use more recyclable materials and 3. Decrease the usage of dangerous IT components that can eventually damage the environment, once they are useless.
There are two parts where Green Cloud Computing is useful:
- Hardware – Where all servers, network and storage devices and every other equipment, like power adapters, cooling equipment, etc. must be eco-friendly – meaning using less energy than usual.
- Software – Where all applications that manage cloud services are written in a code implemented by developers with the idea of less power being consumed and thus reducing greenhouse gas
Cloud Computing sustainability
Simply because cloud computing has replaced the need to have physical IT setup tools and infrastructure, it is now providing efficient mechanisms to manage your servers. There are a lot of reasons why cloud computing is environmentally sustainable.
Before cloud computing, companies had IT infrastructure like servers, networks and storage devices, physically located in their offices. Most of the time, because they lacked information on any loads or predictable growth, they bought more components just to make sure they don’t have any issues. This means that there were a lot of devices that were being run without need and thus consumed a lot of energy.
When companies adopted cloud computing, they started using their servers more efficiently and this way they managed the workload without the need to buy extra devices. Organizations are now consuming less energy.
Impact
- Less carbon footprints
As it is known, cloud computing allows companies to store their data and applications over the internet – meaning they can be accessed by any authorized account, at any location or device. This solution has offered the opportunity to offer employees to work remotely. The more remote workers your company has the less they will need to use transport vehicles to come to your office, and that way your office should not be as big as if all employees would physically there. Less office space means less energy consumption too.
- Less paper used
It’s been a long time really since anyone prints their reports or files and documents them in physical storage. With data now being saved in the cloud, you don’t need those large cabinets to store your printed files. Companies are now going paperless because of this opportunity. OneDrive, SharePoint and other storage options are now available as long as you have an internet connection. You can even digitally sign documents now without the need to print them just for a signature. Through the use of green cloud computing tools, organizations in various industries can reduce or eliminate their paper product consumption. As a result of this approach, you can reduce the amount of paper that needs to be purchased, shredded, or disposed of every year, thus reducing the impact on the environment.
- Less power consumption
Turning off your computer or lights at your office when not in use can make a great impact toward saving energy, but when having physical servers too, those two things won’t be enough. Because servers need a constant power supply to run and also a cooling system that works 24/7 to avoid overheating. If you’re wondering how to save energy the answer is simple: move to the cloud. This way you will need fewer machines in your office, less space and less power supply and cooling too. You can use the eco-friendly approach for your company’s marketing strategy too.
How to migrate to sustainable green cloud computing?
It is important to know that not all cloud services are energy efficient. That is why is crucial to know what strategies to use to migrate to a sustainable green cloud. Here are three:
- Virtualization – This means replacing physical data centres with virtualized ones. Meaning in just one physical server, a company can have multiple virtual machines (VMs) to run. This also saves costs for the company and also reduces energy consumption. Using Accrets desktop virtualization, companies can offer virtual applications and desktops to their employees in remoter locations.
- Optimization – Anytime you reduce server usage you also minimize carbon emission.
- Green Cloud Service Providers – The best way to make sure that you are correctly migrating to a green cloud is to trust such servicers to a cloud service provider that is carbon-aware and uses renewable energy sources.
What’s next?
If you own an IT organization or business you must consider the following steps you may take to reduce carbon emissions and optimize your cloud:
- Work with a green cloud provider – It is now clear that the best way you can move to the cloud, is to work with a cloud provider. If you want to reduce carbon footprints then you need to be careful when choosing the right cloud provider. Not all of them use renewable energy tools.
Another important thing when choosing a cloud provider is choosing one that it’s from your region and has a direct impact on local energy sources too. This way you can reduce other costs and increase security too.
- Optimization – The moment you decide to optimize your cloud to reduce costs, you automatically reduce server use and thus carbon emissions too. But it’s important to know that working with some cloud service providers this isn’t always the case. It’s crucial that if you optimize your cloud you will first, have visibility to see your usage and then also the ability to optimize your setup based on your needs.
- Measuring your carbon emissions and reporting – There are a lot of SaaS tools that now allow your company to maintain your cloud costs and also there are tools that show how much energy and carbon emission your cloud is consuming. Connecting these sustainability teams with the cloud centre will make them understand the importance of saving energy and help them reduce carbon footprints.
Conclusion
To reduce our planet’s carbon footprint and make our world a better place, we need green cloud computing and other energy-efficient technologies. Providing a very effective infrastructure is one of the reasons why cloud computing is so popular among businesses. It is highly detrimental to the environment as well as cost-prohibitive to increase energy demand.
Environmental catastrophes are believed to be caused by technological advancements. On the other hand, cloud computing may offer solutions to ecological problems and allow amends to be made.
Investing in green cloud computing can improve the bottom line of your company, improve employee efficiency, reinvent business processes, and produce a sustainable environment.
Why wait any longer? Take steps to make the world a better and safer place by embracing green computing.
