Is Cloud Computing Actually Environmentally Friendly?

[Reuven Cohen]

Happy New Year's Everyone!

As we end 2009 and prepare for the next decade there seems to be a nagging question, a question that I have to say, I frequently answer without any concrete proof. A question that seems to be becoming more important then ever. The question is simple yet profound in its implications as a global citizen, is cloud computing actually environmentally friendly?

First, I will admit, I am among the group of cloud advocates who routinely claim that cloud computing is green, I say this without any proof or evidence to support my statement. I make this claim as part of my broader pitch to use Cloud Computing, I say this as a sales and marketing guy, but not as an advocate. As an advocate I'd like to have some empirical data to support my position. Believe me, I've searched, and I've searched -- although there are piles of forecasts about the potential market for cloud computing, said to be in the billions, little exists to support the green / eco-friendly argument.

On the face of it, a major incentive to move to cloud computing is that it appears to be more environmentally friendly compared to traditional data center operational / deployment models. The general consensus says that reducing the number of hardware components and replacing them with remote cloud computing systems reduces energy costs for running hardware and cooling as well as reduces your carbon foot print while higher DC consolidation / optimization will conserve energy. But a major problem still remains, where is the proof?

The problem is there is no uniform way to measure this supposed efficiency. None of the major cloud companies are providing utilization data, so it is not possible to know just how efficient cloud computing actually is -- other then it sounds & feels more green.

The problem is measuring the hypothetical. What is the hypothetical footprint of a startup that may have chosen to built their own data center versus using someone elses? Things like transportation, development, construction, management, etc are very difficult to measure and arguably still create vast amounts of CO2, yet are generally not taken into consideration. Also the power sources can have dramatically different CO2 footprints, say a coal source Vs wind or Nuclear.

Then there is the question of consumption, we now have the ability to run our applications on thousands of servers, but previously this wasn't even possible. To say it another way, we can potentially use several years worth of energy in literary a few hours, where previously this wasn't even an option. So in direct contrast, hypothetically we're using more resources, not less. On the flip side, if we bought those thousand servers and had them running (under utilized) the power usage would be significantly higher. But then again, buying those servers would have been out reach for most, so it's not a fair comparison. There we are -- back, at where we started. You may use 80% less energy per unit, but have 1000% more capacity which at the end of the day means you're using more, not less energy.

I'm not alone in this thinking, more broadly, the the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) considers the label "Environmentally Friendly" to be too vague to be meaningful because there is no single international standard for this concept. Although there are a few emerging Data Center Energy Efficiency Initiatives, notably by the EPA in the United States through their Energy Star program. The EPA programs are working to identify ways in which energy efficiency can be measured, documented, and implemented in data centers and the equipment they house, especially servers. This may be the foundation for potential cloud "eco-friendliness", but until cloud computing providers step up and provide the data, it does little to resolve the question.

Let me be clear, it's not that I'm saying Cloud Computing isn't green, I'm sure that if you were to compare a traditional data center deployment to a near exact replication in the cloud you'd find the cloud to be more efficent, but the problem is there currently is no way to justify this statement without some kind of data to support it.

If you know of some hard data, please free to pass it along.

[Rao Dronamraju]

Happy New Year!.

 

I think it is too early to ask how efficient CC is w.r.t. green efficiency.

 

Considering that CC is still in an infantile stage as compared to the IT industry (which has been around 60+ years??), it is too early.

 

I think an easier way to get this data would be to approach the Virtualization & Server Consolidation (V&SC) industry.

 

Since V&SC has been going on for atleast 5 to 7 years if not 10 years, and as I understand about 30% to 40% of the enterprises have been virtualized/consolidated, this is probably the best source of such data.

 

I have seen consolidation figures from 10:1 to 30 or even 40:1. If folks have really consolidated as such, then their power bills might reflect these savings.

 

So the present day data centers with these power savings would be the folks I would poll to get an idea about how green they got.

 

You may also want to talk to department of energy to see if they have conducted any study to see the effects of virtulaization and server consolidation on the country’s power consumption.

Some other sources could be utility companies themselves.

 

I am not sure if 30 to 40% adoption in the enterprise world would be a significant megawatt or gigawatt savings/number to appear on the radar screen of DOE, but could be with utility companies.

 

 

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[Tim M. Crawford]

Actually, I do think it's advantageous to use cloud from an efficiency
stand point. I'm working a project with the EPA and DOE that will
bring clarification to the opportunities that exist. The effort is
focused on data center efficiencies. However, it goes beyond just the
facility improvements into the IT opportunities. More to come...

-t
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/timcrawford
Twitter: http://twitter.com/tcrawford
Blog: http://timcrawford.org

On Dec 31 2009, 5:30 pm, "Rao Dronamraju"

<rao.dronamr...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> Happy New Year!.
>
> I think it is too early to ask how efficient CC is w.r.t. green efficiency.
>
> Considering that CC is still in an infantile stage as compared to the IT
> industry (which has been around 60+ years??), it is too early.
>
> I think an easier way to get this data would be to approach the
> Virtualization & Server Consolidation (V&SC) industry.
>
> Since V&SC has been going on for atleast 5 to 7 years if not 10 years, and
> as I understand about 30% to 40% of the enterprises have been
> virtualized/consolidated, this is probably the best source of such data.
>
> I have seen consolidation figures from 10:1 to 30 or even 40:1. If folks
> have really consolidated as such, then their power bills might reflect these
> savings.
>
> So the present day data centers with these power savings would be the folks
> I would poll to get an idea about how green they got.
>
> You may also want to talk to department of energy to see if they have
> conducted any study to see the effects of virtulaization and server
> consolidation on the country's power consumption.
>
> Some other sources could be utility companies themselves.
>
> I am not sure if 30 to 40% adoption in the enterprise world would be a
> significant megawatt or gigawatt savings/number to appear on the radar
> screen of DOE, but could be with utility companies.
>
>   _____  
>

> <http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=prod_development.server_efficiency>

> Star program. The EPA programs are working to identify ways in which energy
> efficiency can be measured, documented, and implemented in data centers and
> the equipment they house, especially servers. This may be the foundation for
> potential cloud "eco-friendliness", but until cloud computing providers step
> up and provide the data, it does little to resolve the question.
>
> Let me be clear, it's not that I'm saying Cloud Computing isn't green, I'm
> sure that if you were to compare a traditional data center deployment to a
> near exact replication in the cloud you'd find the cloud to be more
> efficent, but the problem is there currently is no way to justify this
> statement without some kind of data to support it.
>
> If you know of some hard data, please free to pass it along.
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "Cloud Computing Interoperability Forum (CCIF)" group.
> To post to this group, send email to cloud...@googlegroups.com
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> cloudforum+...@googlegroups.com

> For more options, visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/cloudforum?hl=en

[Open4G]

The issue of ICT, Information and Communications Technology, being
Green or 'environmentally friendly' should be considered in the broad
context as well as incrementally.

Human beings impact the environment. The over 6 billion on the planet
when combined with mechanized ways to extract and use natural
resources, particularly those that we burn and release into the air
and water we rely on for our mutual survival have grown the capacity
to do harm as we pursue our individual and organizational goals. What
we call progress comes with environmental and humanitarian trade offs:
Society developed agricultural, industrial, and information stages
(ages) which have a degree of ill as well as beneficial impacts:
advances in agriculture has displaced rural populations who swarmed
into cities, creating good but also 'urban blight'. The Industrial age
produced greater individual freedom and prosperity but led to
pollution that choked rivers, poisoned people and consolidated power
into the hands of the few. The Information age has led to an
explosion of knowledge, greater efficiency, but can be criticized as
being ill-focused and uncoordinated.

ICT has been estimated to contributed about 3% to environmental
greenhouse impacts (according to ITU studies). It is expected to
remain among the fastest set of growth industries. Constituent parts
of ICT including 3G-4G wireless and Cloud computing (Cloud ICT), are
expected to experience very rapid growth, about 20% compounded over
several years.

While progress to reduce energy consumption, use production and
distribution methods that have lower environmental impacts, much can
continue to be accomplished. However, the contribution of ICT will be
to contain the impact of growth rather than to achieve a net
reduction. Studies show that while new equipment and use methods can
show substantial benefits, replacement cycles reduce opportunity for
year-over-year improvement.

----

The more substantial impact of ICT comes from the benefit/
environmental impact relationship compared to alternative means.

I'll start out with this statement: "Cloud ICT is GREEN".

But also it must be recognized that the ICT industry fails to express
the ability of ICT as an enabler of a functioning society that has
less environmental impact/unit of production/function.

How do we measure ICT's environmental impacts? Both incrementally,
such as life-cycle modeling of products, processes and discrete usage
models. And less concretely, such as by using comparative models:
"What would be necessary to deliver a similar level of prosperity with
or without the use of of ICT." This subjective broad view helps to
explain why governments and organizations should support more and
better use of ICT in harmony with environmental goals.

----

While I believe "ICT is GREEN', the public image of ICT is abysmal.

ICT competes for use of public and organization resources with other
major industries. This is more the case in terms of broad
appropriations for long term initiatives: incumbency has its
privileges. The automobile, oil and roads/highways infrastructure
industries have well oiled programs to promote and maintain huge
expenditures, tax credits/offsets, and awareness of their benefits,
including promotion of Green efforts. However, the building of more
roads, centralized city planning around use of roads and high-
concentration of offices, etc. contributes directly to use of greater,
not lessor amounts of carbon fuels, dispersion of pollutants into
waterways, and other adverse impacts. What's more, the perpetuation of
industrial age use of resources is counter productive: developed
regions of the world have become 'information societies' in which over
50% of their populations work with information rather than
manufacturing. Despite that, incumbent industrial age proponents push
societies to spend more on means to continue the status quo rather
than to develop Green use of ICT as a means to productivity,
education, and social benefits.

Simple examples:

The US has, no doubt, allowed roadway infrastructure to become
dilapidated, however, it continues to be relatively routine for
governments to spend billions on maintenance and expansion. The fight
over spending priorities, ICT programs, such as spending for rural
broadband, have been hard fought: up to $7 billion is allocated to be
spent across the country over the next 3 years. Meanwhile, individual
road programs, example Seattle's downtown waterfront tunnel, soak up
similar amounts. What is the environmental impact of rural broadband
extension versus building a new highway lane or tunnel? That is a
very complex analysis but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to come
to some obvious conclusions: extension of broadband to rural
communities can facilitate distance learning, medical, information
workers/business establishment... reduction in the need to travel and
commute to centralized offices, schools, medical centers, etc.

This topic is complex but beacons everyone to consider it beyond their
own sphere of influence.

Best regards for the New Year!

-Robert Syputa
Partner Maravedis
cloud4g.com
(see Green4G.com for some discussion - volunteer contributions will be
appreciated)

> program<http://www.energystar.gov

[Open4G]

----

----

Simple examples:

ICT is part of the evolution of society and commerce

On Dec 31 2009, 10:52 am, Reuven Cohen <r...@enomaly.com> wrote:

> program<http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=prod_development.server_efficiency>.