Reducing cloud computing's carbon emissions in the business worldFrancine Bennett | Mastodon C

Who are Mastodon C?

• London-based startup• Tools and services to make businesses' cloud

computing massively greener• Corporate mission: to reduce global emissions

by 1% 

'Public cloud' computing

Cloud computing is growing fast

Source: The Economist

Carbon emissions are growing fast

Year

Source: Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Centre

"The world is locking itself into an unsustainable energy future which would have far-reaching consequences" 

International Energy Agency, November 2011

Source: McKinsey & Co

IT is a big contributor to emissions

© 2006 Bruno & Lígia Rodrigues

Why target cloud computing?

• Usage is tripling year on year

• Major differences between cloud service providers

• Work is mobile and switching costs are low 

Making it happen

The footprint of a cloud server

Power draw of server

PUE* of data centre

Power source

* Power Usage Effectiveness

What is PUE?

2KW used by servers

Power for cooling, security,

lighting, etc

Data centre

4KW goes in

Other energy losses

What is PUE?

2KW used by servers

Power for cooling, security,

lighting, etc

Data centre

4KW goes in

Other energy losses

Source: Amee/Defra

How much do power sources differ?

Grid emissions per kWh, by country

The footprint of a cloud server

Power draw of server

PUE of data centre

Power source

"While this sounds like an interesting project, I'm afraid we don't make these sorts of data points available."

"While this sounds like an interesting project, I'm afraid we don't make these sorts of data points available."

"OK, no problem. Is there any public industry data which you regard as high quality, which you would recommend if we're making estimates? Also would be great to know if [Company] has any green power or efficiency initiatives which we should be aware of in our modelling."

"While this sounds like an interesting project, I'm afraid we don't make these sorts of data points available."

"OK, no problem. Is there any public industry data which you regard as high quality, which you would recommend if we're making estimates? Also would be great to know if [Company] has any green power or efficiency initiatives which we should be aware of in our modelling."

"None that I'm aware of, but we continually and relentlessly seek even more efficient operations."

Determinants of footprint

Determinants of footprintMultiplier effect

Physical design

Determinants of footprintMultiplier effect

Physical design 1.6

Determinants of footprintMultiplier effect

Physical design 1.6

Utilisation

Determinants of footprintMultiplier effect

Physical design 1.6

Utilisation 1.2

Determinants of footprintMultiplier effect

Physical design 1.6

Utilisation 1.2

Local climate

Determinants of footprintMultiplier effect

Physical design 1.6

Utilisation 1.2

Local climate 2.0

Determinants of footprintMultiplier effect

Physical design 1.6

Utilisation 1.2

Local climate 2.0

Power source

Determinants of footprintMultiplier effect

Physical design 1.6

Utilisation 1.2

Local climate 2.0

Power source 8.0

Determinants of footprint

The footprint of a cloud server

Power draw of server

PUE of data centre

Power source

The footprint of a cloud server

Power draw 380W

PUE of data centre

Power source

The footprint of a cloud server

Power draw 380W

PUE 1.5 + cooling

Power source

The footprint of a cloud server

Power draw 380W

PUE 1.5 + cooling

Power source

depends on location

picture of oregon here

© Wendell Ojai 2010

The footprint of a cloud server

The footprint of a cloud server

The footprint of a cloud server

The footprint of a cloud server

This is Bruce.

This is Bruce.

Bruce needs to make his cloud computing greener.

Bruce's problems

• Latency• Legal and data protection• Cost • FUD* and greenwash• Lack of data

*Fear, uncertainty, and doubt

Solving Bruce's problems

• Latency• Legal and data protection• Cost • FUD* and greenwash• Lack of data

*Fear, uncertainty, and doubt

Solving Bruce's problems

• Latency• Legal and data protection• Cost • FUD* and greenwash• Lack of data

*Fear, uncertainty, and doubt

Solving Bruce's problems

• Latency• Legal and data protection• Cost • FUD* and greenwash• Lack of data

*Fear, uncertainty, and doubt

Isn't the cloud green already?

Cloud computation is more efficient than using your own servers

Cloud computation is greener than using your own servers

Isn't the cloud green already?

Cloud computation is more efficient than using your own servers

Cloud computation is greener than using your own servers

efficient         green

From Time inc

© ThinkGeoEnergy

Isn't the cloud green already?

Hardware efficiency is improving rapidly

Footprint will drop to insignificant levels

William Stanley Jevons1835-1882

2012 Simeon Bennett

Isn't the cloud green already?

Hardware efficiency is improving rapidly

Footprint will drop to insignificant levels

Solving Bruce's problems

• Latency• Legal and data protection• Cost • FUD* and greenwash• Lack of data

*Fear, uncertainty, and doubt

Per Year, Virginia (AWS East)

==

The footprint of a cloud server

Solving Bruce's problems

• Latency• Legal and data protection• Cost • FUD* and greenwash• Lack of data

*Fear, uncertainty, and doubt

Wrap up and summary

Recap

• Cloud computing is growing; its footprint is big; its footprint is a big part of global total emissions

• Cloud vendors are not willing to share data, but we can make good estimates

• Power source is the most important factor• There are some dangerous myths. In particular,

efficient doesn't mean green, and Jevons' paradox can swallow future efficiency gains  

• We can put this all together to make businesses' cloud computing greener

Source: McKinsey & Co

IT is a big contributor to emissions

From Time inc

© ThinkGeoEnergy

1%

We're on a mission to reduce global emissions by 1%

"Herds of intelligent roaming compute jobs, migrating from datacentre to datacentre, in search of cold iron." @mrchrisadams 

Francine Bennettwww.mastodonc.com

@MastodonC@fhr