The environmental benefits of The Cloud: when the business choice is also the sustainable choice

Cloud Computing is here to stay, a point strongly underlined by the fact that 2022 has seen spend on Cloud services outstrip core IT allocation for the first time ever.

This level of growth doesn’t happen by accident.?CTO’s tend, by function and often nature, to be highly detail oriented people and their decision-making and budget allocation reflects this.?So clearly there are significant benefits to adopting the Cloud.

There’s quite a bit of information out there on the benefits of, and reasons for, transitioning to the Cloud. ?And there are many such reasons.?We’ve highlighted the top benefits below but initially there are arguably two which aren’t just commercially sound reasons but also represent the right thing to do and a real win-win-win for business, people and planet, especially given the challenges we all face in the wider world right now.?

Those reasons are Energy and the Environment.

A swathe of research strongly suggests that Cloud Computing can significantly minimize energy consumption. Work at Berkeley Lab and Northwestern University (funded by Google) has found that cloud computing can?cut energy consumption by a phenomenal 87% for millions of smaller and less efficient businesses. ?The survey affirmed that organizations could save between 60% and 85% in energy costs when they shift from on-site to cloud-based services.?Even with a reasonable margin of error applied the impact is undoubtedly significant.?

A recent article from Forbes (Source) likened the efficiency gains in Cloud Computing to carpooling, which allows for optimising of power, space and other resources.??And this optimisation is certainly needed.?A Parliamentary report highlights that global estimates suggest that ICT (excluding TVs) accounted for 4-6% of all electricity used globally in 2020 and that this is likely to increase over the next 5-10 years.?

In terms of Carbon Footprint a recent paper from the UN estimates that ICT’s true proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions could be around 2.1 - 3.9% - though they stress that there are still significant uncertainties around these calculations. These figures would suggest ICT has emissions at least greater than the aviation industry, which are around 2 % of global emissions.

Whilst Cloud Computing is one of the ways to reduce ICT’s footprint, It’s important to acknowledge that Cloud Computing does have some further gains that can be made.

There are two common ways through which cloud computing systems waste energy; idling servers in datacentres and server overload.?In addition a lot of energy is used in data transfer – a constant factor of the Cloud.?According to Energy Innovation, servers and cooling systems account for nearly?86% of electricity consumption?in datacentres, followed by storage drives (11%) and network devices (3%). ?Also, when the equipment’s lifecycles end, you have to dispose of them—adding to the e-waste issue.

The efficiency gains achievable through Cloud drives demand and this demand creates more emissions, something a recent paper from Lancaster University refers to as ‘The Rebound Effect’.?Some predictions claim that by 2040, datacentres will account for over?14% of the world’s GHG emissions (a figure which, to be balanced, incorporates reductions elsewhere).?Regardless, as datacentres operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, they require enormous amounts of energy to operate and keep the servers cool.

So, what can be done?

Well, it’s certainly the case that switching to the Cloud is the optimal option vs on-site systems, both in terms of energy cost and carbon emissions. And in terms of improving the Cloud further, the technological initiatives employed by Cloud providers have certainly resulted in fewer emissions over time.?For example, the findings of a study by 451 Research revealed that the infrastructure of Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure is nearly?400% more efficient?than on-premises datacentres. According to the survey, over two-thirds of this advantage is attributable to advanced technologies and innovation that AWS employs.

In addition Microsoft has set the goal to become carbon negative by 2030. To do so, among other things, the company will shift to 100% renewable energy for its datacentres, buildings and campuses; move to an electric vehicle fleet; and pay carbon taxes. By 2050, the company even aims to remove more carbon from the environment than it has emitted since its founding in 1975. ?In 2020, Microsoft?promised?to invest $1 billion over the following four years in people and technology aimed at carbon reduction and removal. ?Already, the organization's hyper-scale datacentres are said to be up to?93% more energy-efficient?and 98% more carbon-efficient than on-site solutions.

Source: The Carbon Benefits of Cloud Computing: a Study of the Microsoft cloud

Cloud computing can mitigate GHG emissions by aggregating discrete datacentres into large-scale facilities that efficiently manage energy. Cloud computing can also reduce wasted energy by optimizing the physical environment (for example cloud computing facilities in cold climates), cutting the power spent to cool the servers.

A collaborative study by?Accenture, Microsoft Corporation, and WSP Global Inc. shows that cloud computing can significantly reduce GHG emissions. The study affirms that large companies can reduce per-user carbon footprint by 30%, while SMBs can lessen per-user carbon by up to 90%.

Source: Accenture “The Green behind the cloud”

Similarly, an IDC study reveals that companies that transition to cloud computing between 2021 and 2024 should prevent?629 million metric tons of GHG emissions. And if all the datacentres in use in 2024 were conceived for sustainability, IDC notes that 1.6 billion metric tons of GHG emissions could be saved.

In conclusion switching to cloud, or upgrading and optimising your cloud usage, regardless of company size, will contribute to the collective effort required to reduce carbon emissions and energy use.?When added to the other benefits we’ve highlighted below – it truly represents a win-win-win for business, people and planet.

2Data can help create real savings through optimising your cloud licensing and supporting your digital transformation with our significant experience and know-how.?Reach out to us today at:??https://www.2-data.com/

Top 5 Benefits of Cloud Computing (next to environment & energy).

·????????Low capital outlay and maintenance cost

One of cloud computing’s major advantages is that it requires less start-up and/or ongoing costs than a regular, local server through efficiency gains and reduced resource requirements.?You simply pay for the amount of storage you need as you go (with intelligent forward planning!).?In addition cloud computing reduces both hardware and software maintenance and update costs for organizations.

·????????Accessibility

Cloud allows us to quickly and easily access stored information anywhere, anytime, using an internet connection. An internet cloud infrastructure increases organizational productivity and efficiency by ensuring that our data is always accessible.

·????????Data Security

Data security is one of the biggest advantages of cloud computing. Cloud offers many advanced features related to security and ensures that data is securely stored and handled. You never have to worry about losing critical data and business applications because of a disaster, accident or technical mishap.

·????????Employee Collaboration

According to the Cloud Security Alliance, 79% of companies receive regular requests from users to buy more cloud applications with file sharing with collaboration being one of the top-requested cloud services.

By allowing groups of people to quickly and easily share information in the cloud via shared storage your team can be anywhere in the world and still work together.

·????????Employee work-life balance

If employees can work from anywhere, they can attend to any necessary domestic responsibilities a little more easily, saving everyone time and energy.?Happier employees make for a better workplace.