Vast amounts of electricity are required to power the world’s computing environments. The methods to supply this electricity vary widely and range from coal-burning power plants to cleaner, renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power. Companies can generate substantial carbon emissions by maintaining an on-premises IT environment.
Organizations may not have options to significantly reduce the environmental impact of maintaining their data centers. In many cases, they are at the mercy of local power-generating companies who control the methods of energy production. They may not be able to adopt a more environmentally friendly method of running their existing computing environments.
Migrating to the cloud is a viable alternative for companies interested in minimizing the environmental impact of their on-premises IT environment. Cloud providers offer customers multiple solutions that can help reduce their energy consumption and minimize their environmental impact. Promoting increased sustainability offers another compelling reason for cloud migration.
The Environmental Benefits of Cloud Computing
In general, migrating to the cloud delivers multiple environmental benefits compared to maintaining on-premises data centers. Cloud service providers (CSPs) offer the following advantages over legacy IT environments.
- Energy efficiency – CSPs typically provide services from large data centers that have been optimized for energy efficiency. They deploy more efficient hardware, advanced cooling systems, and may power their facilities with renewable energy sources.
- Resource optimization and waste reduction – Cloud providers employ techniques such as virtualization and pooling to optimize resource usage. Virtualization significantly reduces the need for physical hardware and its associated electronic waste. It also minimizes energy consumption when compared to on-premises IT environments.
- Scalability – The scalability offered by the cloud allows companies to avoid purchasing and provisioning additional hardware to address fluctuating business requirements. The extra hardware may eventually wind up in a landfill and consumes floor space and resources that could be used more productively.
- Supporting a remote workforce – The remote work supported by a cloud environment reduces commuting requirements and results in lower carbon emissions. Companies may be able to achieve further environmental benefits by reducing the need to maintain office space for their workforce.
How Cloud Providers Are Promoting Sustainability
The three major cloud service providers (CSPs) are addressing the environmental impact of their business models and taking impactful action to minimize carbon emissions. These organizations are developing and enhancing their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) capabilities so customers can gain important insights for managing their carbon footprint. Taking these proactive steps furnishes benefits in addition to those outlined above.
Let’s look at some of the ways these CSPs are working toward a more sustainable future for themselves and their customers.
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Amazon has committed to an enhanced sustainability posture by becoming a founding member of the Climate Pledge to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2040. In its 2023 sustainability report, AWS announced multiple ways it is supporting environmentally friendly cloud computing.
- 100% of the energy consumed by AWS was matched with renewable energy sources.
- 5% improvement in the use of water resources in its data centers returning 3.5 billion liters of water to local communities.
- 6 million hardware components were diverted from landfills by being recycled or resold.
AWS carbon footprint tool
The AWS carbon footprint tool gives customers the ability to understand and manage the carbon emissions generated by their AWS cloud environment. The tool lets companies:
- Measure the estimated carbon emissions from your AWS services;
- Understand how services and geographies impact your carbon emissions;
- Develop and monitor sustainability goals.
Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure has committed to helping local communities address sustainability by focusing on four key areas of environmental impact. Companies migrating an environment to Azure become contributors to these efforts.
- The company pledges to use 100% renewable energy to power its data centers by 2025.
- More water will be replenished than consumed by Azure by 2030.
- Zero waste through enhanced efficiency and recycling by 2030.
- Net-zero deforestation for new construction by promoting reforestation initiatives.
Azure emissions impact dashboard
The emissions impact dashboard lets organizations track the carbon impact of their Azure cloud usage. The tool provides emission data related to Azure and Microsoft Dynamics and extends to all three scopes of emissions. It employs accurate and consistent carbon accounting. A dedicated dashboard is also available for M365 environments.
Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
Google is working toward improved sustainability in multiple ways. These initiatives include:
- Setting a goal of net-zero emissions by 2030;
- Reducing 50% of combined Scope1, 2, and 3 emissions by 2030;
- Run on carbon-free energy on all grids utilized by Google by 2030;
- Replenishing 120% of the freshwater volume consumed across all offices and data centers.
The GCP offers customers the opportunity to deploy a carbon-free cloud infrastructure based on the ability of different GCP regions to utilize carbon-free energy (CFE). Customers can choose to run applications in cleaner regions and plan workloads for a region with a high CFE percentage.
Your Company Can Minimize Its Carbon Footprint
Migrating to the cloud allows organizations that currently support an on-premises IT environment to minimize their carbon footprint and promote a more sustainable future. Companies will enjoy the general benefits of a cloud infrastructure such as energy efficiency, resource optimization, and support for remote workers. Based on the CSP selected, a company can take advantage of additional tools and resources to help reduce its carbon footprint and support sustainability objectives.
Let VAST Streamline Your Cloud Migration
At VAST, we have developed strong partnerships with the three major CSPs and have extensive experience migrating our clients to the cloud. We can help your company identify the most effective cloud solution for your unique business requirements. As we have seen, cloud migration offers a streamlined method of minimizing your organization’s environmental impact.
Our team will work with you and help determine the best cloud home for your existing IT environment. Then we’ll assist with the migration and effectively managing the new cloud infrastructure to deliver business as well as environmental benefits.
Get in touch with our cloud experts today and get started on the path to a more environmentally friendly IT environment.
