So much for all the talks on sustainable approaches to save the Earth. And, yet, levels of climate-hitting gases in the atmosphere broke all previous records and rose faster than average in 2020. Presently, GHG levels are higher than ever experienced by the human race. Prof. Dave Reay of Edinburgh University fears that “The small window of opportunity to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that meets the Paris climate goals is about to vanish.” Did we learn anything from the appalling statistics? Nada! Instead, the world is already preparing for the worst phase of global warming – increased Internet Connectivity, increased data transmission networks, 5G, Cryptocurrency and Cloud Computing.
Do you know how much energy each of these consume? To enlighten you, here’s a few hard facts to know –
- Data transmission centres consumed 1.4% of global electricity use in 2020.
- Power-hungry cryptocurrency mining accounts for 36 terawatt-hours in power consumption annually.
- 5G is also power-hungry. Experts presume 5G will prompt energy consumption to grow by 160% in 10 years.
- Cloud computing is not far behind. Bloomberg estimates cloud computing consumes 1% of world’s electricity.
And, trust us when we say, the last figure is poised to grow exponentially as more and more services shift to the cloud. The massive amount of data stored in cloud every day calls for more electricity support to power them, equivalent to 8%. And, they are dollar-hungry too! Studies show public cloud service providers spend more than a quarter of a trillion US dollars a year. Having nearly 90% of companies hosted on the cloud, this price seems quite reasonable. But cloud computing is not reasonable when it comes to power consumption, as we have seen earlier. To support massive amount of data stored in cloud every second, Amazon, Microsoft and Google maintain huge data centres pan world. And, these data centres consume an equally massive amount of power every day. In 2020, global data centres energy usage amounted to 200-250 TWh, equivalent to 1% of global electricity demand.
However, going back to pre-technology and industry era is out of question. So, the best way forward for humans is to find a more sustainable and greener solution to data storage in cloud. And, what can best fit the need of the hour other than Green Cloud.
What is Green Cloud Computing?
It goes without saying that cloud computing is quintessential to foster scalability, security, and cost-effectiveness for organisations – an irreplaceable need of the hour. However, facilitating oceans of data in the cloud comes with a heavy price. Data centres sprouting up everywhere to accommodate thousands of servers and other heavy equipment necessitating a fully operational cloud storage only adds to carbon footprints. Hence, a greener solution can remediate the present crisis, if not reverse it.
The term ‘green cloud computing’ was always there. But, only recently it has stepped in the forefront as the only solution to cater to rising demand for cloud computing minus its adverse effects.
Green cloud computing refers to designing, producing, and using digital spaces in a way that is both sustainable and environment-friendly. Green computing further enhances the efficiency of computing resources alongside reducing their energy consumption and the subsequent environmental impact of their increased usages.
The Information Communication Technology Industry is arguably the major defaulter in power consumption among others. Hence, it has become imperative for the world to find an energy efficient solution. Green computing is the answer.
Benefits of Green Computing
1. Reserve Energy for the Future
That’s the sole purpose of green computing – reserving energy for our children and grandchildren, and our planet as well. As per studies, a proposed Green Architecture for cloud computing can save energy consumption by 27% or more. Promoting recyclability and biodegradability of defunct products and factory waste reduces dependability on hazardous materials. That maximise the energy efficiency of centres manifold. Google funded a project not long ago to measure energy use and carbon footprints of the cloud. According to Google’s findings, organizations switching their common software programs to the cloud can cut down energy consumption by 87%. Adding to that, use of digital spaces to facilitate green cloud computing reduces technology’s impact on the environment and promote environment-friendly computer technologies that use power sustainably. More importantly, green cloud servers manage energy usage relentlessly and don’t get easily heated up. Further, pooling resources in the cloud allows companies to cut-down on the number of on-premise hardware resources, thereby minimising power consumption and reducing electricity bills.
2. Reduce Carbon Footprint Everywhere
Besides reserving energy for the future, green computing helps the environment in other ways. One of them being, flexibility to work from anywhere and anytime. Remote working became a big thing to consider post-pandemic. The world has already witnessed the benefits of permitting employees to work remotely. And, with an increase usage of cloud spaces, the need for employees to travel to work ends indefinitely. That not only cuts down on employee carbon footprint from traveling, it also reduces office footprint as well. However, there’s still time before remote working becomes a popular corporate culture. Still, many are opting for it and are successfully running companies from remote locations. A few others chose the Hybrid option, all courtesy to cloud computing.
3. Going Paperless
Storing and sharing important files and documents on the cloud reduce dependency on paperwork. And, with added back-up features, you won’t face the risk of losing data forever. That’s because they are safe and secure in the cloud. Varied cloud storage options like Google Drive, SharePoint, OneDrive, DropBox, and others, going paperless has never been easy. And, now, signing, sharing, and storing legal documents is easy, with just a few clicks of the mouse. So, companies can now bid recycling, shredding, incinerating, and disposing of paper documents a big Goodbye!
What’s New in Green Cloud?
A lot is happening in the green cloud space as Tech Giants like Microsoft and Google put their heads together to unearth more sustainable cloud computing solutions. The former has outlined an ambitious plan that is going to be a Gigantic Step towards sustainability. And, that being, Microsoft’s underwater data centres powered by renewable energy.
Microsoft has leveraged technology from submarines and marine energy to develop self-sufficient data centres underwater, designed to provide cloud services at lightning speed to coastal cities. Deployment of the Northern Isles datacentre at the European Marine Energy Centre marks a milestone in history. The pod’s cooling system will rely on ocean water, sustainably managing itself and operating without maintenance for five years.
Google, on the other hand, has racked up enough offset to zero out all emissions from its data centres. The company itself has achieved carbon neutrality long back by running on green power fully. Now, the Search Engine Guru is ambitiously planning to run all its data centres on 100% green energy round the clock.
Time To Go – GREEN!
Shifting to the cloud for data storage and sharing was anyway a baby step towards sustainability. But, finding greener solutions to compensate energy requirement of data centres supporting cloud storage was imperative given the present environmental condition. And, big companies like Microsoft and Google are already leading the battle from the front. Green cloud computing is a broader concept but going remote for work and paperless are few of the important measures taken towards it. And, switching to sustainable energy sources for cloud-support data centres is the best move forward. But the end line is still far and more sustainable measures towards green computing is needed to realise a complete green cloud computing – something akin to Microsoft’s underwater data centres.
