Cloud computing's real-world environmental impact
Learn why business and IT leaders should care about the massive environmental impact of cloud computing.
What is the environmental impact of cloud computing?
Cloud computing has a significant environmental impact, contributing between 3% and 4% of global emissions annually, a figure that could double by 2025. Data centers, which are essential for cloud services, are responsible for nearly 1% of energy-related global greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for approximately 300 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2020.
How do cloud providers address sustainability?
Cloud providers are increasingly focusing on sustainability due to stakeholder pressure. For instance, AWS aims to become water positive by 2030 and expects to achieve 100% renewable energy across its operations by 2025. Similarly, Google has committed to running all its data centers on carbon-free energy by 2030. These efforts are becoming key differentiators in the competitive cloud market.
Can cloud computing be more efficient than on-premises solutions?
Yes, transitioning to cloud computing can be more efficient. Research indicates that moving away from on-premises computing could prevent over 1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from 2021 to 2024, largely due to the efficiency of shared data centers. Cloud providers can optimize operations better than individual organizations, leading to reduced resource consumption.
Cloud computing's real-world environmental impact
published by Applied Tech
Applied Tech, a technology consulting and managed services firm based in Madison, Wisconsin and Denver, Colorado has provided complete IT services for small to mid-sized businesses throughout Colorado and the nation. Their expertise and work ethic has resulted in hundreds of diverse clients in all types of industries. Platte River Networks provides infrastructure design, procurement, implementation, monitoring and management including help desk, projects, security and virtual CIO services. Our US based Network Operation and Help Desk Center includes 70 full-time engineers and technicians fully monitoring, managing and supporting over 240 companies 24 x 7 including onsite.
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