Cloud computing really is greener, research finds
Cloud computing really is greener, research finds
Cloud computing does lower energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions, a new report from the Global e-Sustainability Initiative and Microsoft has confirmed.
The 'Enabling Technologies of a Low-Carbon Economy- a Focus on Cloud Computing’ study – which was sponsored by the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) the authors of the 'Smart 2020' and 'Smarter 2020' reports – has found that the use of cloud computing could save over £1.4 billion every year in energy usage.
These major cost savings come as a result of a decrease in energy consumption and reduced damage to the global environmental. The report has also found that cloud-based concepts are 95 per cent more efficient than traditional IT methods, with only one tonne of greenhouse gas (GHG) created by the cloud leading to 20 tonnes “abated from customers”, reported IT Wire.
The study – which was conducted by a research team from Imperial College and Reading University in the UK and Harvard University in the US - investigates the energy savings and the GHG abatement potential of cloud computing in the UK, Sweden, Poland, Portugal, France, Germany, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Canada and Indonesia.
If 80 per cent of both public and private organisations in the 11 countries listed were to offer cloud-based email and groupware solutions to their clients, 11.2 TWh less energy would be consumed each year, the report said. This is representative of 25 per cent of the energy consumed by London, or the same as removing 1.7 million cars from the roads.
Leader of the study, Dr Peter Thomond, told the publication: “The findings show, contrary to the perception of power hungry data centres, that the energy efficiency of cloud infrastructure and its embedded carbon outperform on-site services by an order of magnitude. And that is only with these three applications – there are hundreds more.”
Businesses looking to move services into the cloud, should evaluate the performance of their existing network and consider setting up a leased line or MPLS network.
