The Carbon Diet: How Businesses can Slim Down their Footprint with Digital Decarbonization

When we think of global warming or climate change, our focus stays on carbon emissions from the automotive, aviation, or energy sectors. However, one of the major contributors that go unnoticed is the data centers industry. It is discovered that data centers use 1.5% of global energy consumption and digitalization already accounts for 4% of global GHG emissions which is more than the entire aviation, automotive, and energy sectors combined. If this trend isn’t mitigated timely, then data centers could be consuming 20% of global energy by 2030.

Of course, significant advancements and progress have been made to lower the carbon footprint by removing legacy systems, driving operational efficiency, modernizing applications, or migrating to the cloud. However, there remains much more to do, especially at a time when the daily digital footprint continues to grow. According to Digitalcarb.org, “One person creates 1.7 MB of data a second. Let’s assume a working day of 7.5 hours yields 46GB, akin to 15,000 photos daily, totaling 22 tons CO2 yearly.” This statistic reveals that we’re in a precarious situation and immediate and constructive measures need to be taken.

There’s no doubt that enterprise technology leaders—CIOs, chief digital innovation officers (CDIOs), and chief technology officers (CTOs), among others— must play a major role in turning climate ambitions into reality. However, they’ve not been very successful in achieving sustainability goals. Therefore, today we discuss how they can do this and offer a clear path of action. We will discuss digital decarbonization, its key principles and what are its benefits to organizations other than reducing their carbon footprint.

Understanding the Basics of Decarbonization: Introduction, Benefits & Key Pillars

What is Digital Decarbonization?

The idea behind digital decarbonization centers around “the responsible and efficient utilization of knowledge and data within organizations.” It focuses on optimizing how data is generated, processed, and stored. This is done to ensure that data storing, processing, or analyzing aligns with sustainable practices, therefore minimizing data-related carbon emissions.

How do Digital Services Create CO2 emissions?

While discussing carbon emissions, we rarely think about how utilizing instant communication to online content and video conferencing leads to utilizing a lot of electricity. Mind that it is not just our computers or smartphones that are using it (whether they’re plugged in or charged) or the communication networks that send the data back and forth, but also the servers that store its data. Yes, you read it right. Data centers have to remain running to some degree or another for them to function in the tasks they're assigned to.

Some data centers are essentially warehouses of up to 40,000 square meters and are filled with servers, running and consuming power all across the world. And while renewable energy is on the rise, a large portion of electricity is still generated through fossil fuels, like power plants that burn coal. It’s estimated that 30% of data centers run on a 24/7 basis, often resulting in energy wastage of around 5-10% of their full capacity.

To simplify how our day-to-day usage of digital services impacts our environment, let’s refer to a recent article in the journal Resources, Conservation & Recycling. The researchers stated that "one hour of videoconferencing can emit up to 157 gm of carbon... if a person with 15 hours worth of meetings a week were to turn off the video and use audio only for one month, their monthly carbon footprint would drop by just over 9 kilograms, equivalent to charging a smartphone every night for over three years."

However, despite the assumption that digitalization may be a major driver of climate change, that doesn't have to be the case. Yes, it’s true that at present, the picture isn’t that optimistic. At the same time, digital solutions can promote climate protection, clean air, intact soil, and preserving biodiversity.

Digital Decarbonization: 5 Key Pillars

The digital age might have raised a few concerns about its growing and negative impact on our environment. However, there are always two sides to a coin, if there are negatives to digitalization, there have been some positives also– Digital Decarbonization. The approach plays an important role in reducing GHG emissions, fortifying resilience against climate-related hazards, and enhancing the organizational capacity for action.

Since so many organizations are embracing net-zero targets and seeking a more structured approach to reducing carbon emissions. Let's discuss 5 major areas, where this change needs to be implemented.

• People: Get involved, and inform employees by giving access to sustainability practices. Form a participatory environment culture to inspire people to participate in cutting down the business's carbon footprint.
• Process: Implement lean production principles and ensure process flow uninterrupted and smooth equal to all operational activities. Employ technology to help identify and eliminate waste in the system, thus improving the efficiency of the production line and discharging less waste and resources.
• Data: Recollect, evaluate, and use data with a strong focus on how the energy is being used, the discharge of greenhouse gas, and the level of environmental performance ranking. Employers gained insights for decision-making and finding places for additional emissions decline, as well as opportunities for operational efficiency improvement.
• Infrastructure: Migrate IT infrastructure ture to the cloud and make sure that it is energy efficient. For instance, you can merge data centers and opt for virtualization and containerization technologies to achieve resource utilization overlap for using less energy.
• Energy: Renewable energy and green energy production could be carried out either through power purchase agreements (PPAs) or on-site renewable energy generation. Develop energy efficiency management to optimize energy consumption and decrease carbon emissions that come from business activities.

Building a Greener Future: Why Businesses Need to Prioritize Digital Decarbonization

Sustainability is no longer just a part of organizations’ CSR, it has become an integral part of the way they operate. After all, green digitalization is the way forward and businesses are finding ways to use technology while keeping in mind their carbon footprint. This has several advantages, such as:

• Cost Reduction: When an enterprise adopts cloud migration or serverless tech, it leads to scaling down energy expenditures. Moreover, the use of less paperwork and virtual operations can significantly lower business operating costs as well.
• Enhanced Brand Image: Customers are more than attracted by brands that show how eco-friendly they’ve been. Adopting digital decarbonization acts as a reflection of the environmental activeness of companies which can in turn enlarge the number of clients and generate brand loyalty.
• Improved Operational Efficiency: Introducing digital solutions like electronic document management and collaboration tools through the optimization of some processes can significantly improve the overall efficiency of the organization. This in addition helps save the environment by increasing efficiency and flow at the workstation.
• Future-Proofing the Business: Environmental regulations, as well as customers' expectations regarding sustainability, are moreover dynamic innovations thus businesses that venture into digital decarbonization have more opportunities to adjust and thrive in the long run.
• Employee Engagement and Morale: Employees can find a great deal of purpose and pride by contributing to protecting the environment. This may thus result in enhanced employee engagement, morale, and finally, induction of new candidates who are passionate about the sustainable environment.

The Business Case for Digital Decarbonization: 7 Measures Every CIO Must Implement

CIOs are the drivers of innovation and change, and therefore, they’re obligated to develop holistic strategic plans to reduce emissions and implement sustainable solutions. So, we present you 7 essential steps that you must consider when embarking on the journey toward digital decarbonization:

1. Assess Current Carbon Footprint

Start with an in-depth analysis of your company's present carbon footprint, focusing on the inventory of all the sources and sources of greenhouse gasses. Also, this consists of components that the emission is made up of from different operational sectors for instance energy use, transportation, supply chain activities, and disposal of waste. One can also utilize advanced software and techniques to determine and assess emissions values for a more holistic overview of your operations and their impact.

2. Set Clear Decarbonization Goals

Develop a solid and measurable decarbonization strategy specific to your business's objectives and goals. This can range from the factory becoming carbon neutral, up to certain emissions reduction or sustainability goals being set. Whatever the objective, you need to be specific in setting it. Establishing the goals that can be reached but need to ignite organizational dedication and loyalty will be vital in determining the success of the plan.

3. Identify Digital Opportunities

Focus on applications or digital technologies that can be utilized to achieve both the objectives of emissions reduction and operational efficiencies. These innovations may include data analytics, IoT, AI, and cloud computing capabilities to boost resource utilization, better streamline processes, and minimize waste. Define and focus on the parts of the business, where the purpose of digital decarbonization is to bring a large reduction in carbon emissions.

4. Invest in Renewable Energy

The shift to renewables is an integral determinant in the path toward decarbonization. Compare onsite renewable electricity options like solar panels and wind turbines so that you can run your business simply and without concerns for the environment. Moreover, also assesses options to acquire renewable energy resources from external partners through power purchase agreements (PPAs), or renewable energy certificates (RECs) to reduce fossil fuel dependency.

5. Data Center Optimization and Green Hosting

These are integral components of sustainable business practices in the digital age. Leveraging strategies such as virtualization, consolidation, and the adoption of energy-efficient hardware, businesses can significantly reduce energy consumption and minimize their environmental impact. Additionally, exploring green hosting services that prioritize renewable energy sources and engage in carbon offsetting initiatives further reinforces sustainability efforts. Implementing innovative cooling solutions like ambient air or liquid immersion cooling enhances energy efficiency and contributes to a greener data center ecosystem. Together, these practices enable businesses to operate more responsibly while maintaining high-performance digital infrastructure.

6. Cloud Migration and Optimization

Opting for cloud services providers who have embraced renewable energy as a source of power and the principles of environmentally friendly data center operations is another way to imbibe digital decarbonization. Research to find the best approach to sustainability via their reports before selecting the vendor. Also, make sure you source right since you can easily end up spending more than you should in case of over-provisioning. Use auto-scaling for dynamic change of resources on demand. Use containers for applications portability and i.e., consistency of architecture between clouds.

7. Invest in Green IT Infrastructure

To green your IT infrastructure, prioritize energy-efficient hardware certified by organizations like Energy Star. Implement power management features such as automatic sleep mode and utilize power strips with on/off switches to eliminate standby power consumption. Explore alternative cooling solutions like air-side economizers for data centers. By integrating these practices, businesses can reduce their environmental footprint while optimizing operational efficiency.

Decarbonizing the Digital World: Key Trends and Innovations

We’ve so far understood how data center sector is a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions also how the numbers are expected to rise if not addressed. Decarbonizing the digital world is a pressing imperative, and key trends and innovations must be integrated to mitigate this challenge.

However, on the brighter side, a study by Ericsson revealed that implementing green innovations such as green hosting services, energy-efficient hardware, and carbon offset can potentially lead to an 80% reduction in the carbon footprint of the sector. Moreover, the integration of AI or ML in energy efficiency efforts such as AI cloud delivers up to 40% energy savings in data centers globally. As businesses continue to embrace these trends and innovations, they are not only minimizing their environmental footprint but also driving innovation and competitiveness in the digital era.

Closing Statement

Digitalization and decarbonization are part of the same coin. There are certain and previously hidden roles digital data practices have played in contributing to society’s carbon footprint. However, we cannot ignore or degrade one for the other. The way forward is to take a more holistic approach, considering the environmental impact of digitization as well as physical decarbonization activities. Thus, individuals and corporations must utilize digitalization and manage climate change to work in synergy for us to build a sustainable future.

We still have nearly a few years before digitization creates havoc in the environment and remediates the damages. It is a powerful technique for decarbonization and we must all ensure that it’s used responsibly. And not just for tackling emissions and mitigating climate-related risks, but also for building a safer, fairer, and more sustainable world for all.