The age of data and its impact
According to the Global Overview Report for 2025, ‘there are currently 5.78 billion unique mobile phone users, of which 5.56 billion are internet users, representing more than half of the world’s population.’
All these users, together with the growing increase in applications and the use of AI, generate an infinite amount of data that needs to be processed and stored on a daily basis. According to a publication by the World Economic Forum, ‘it is estimated that by 2025, around 463 exabytes of data will be created every day worldwide.’
This large amount of data and technological innovations presents many challenges, as it requires significant computing resources in data centres to store and process this amount of information. However, it is important that this growth is achieved efficiently and sustainably to avoid various problematic long-term effects.
Cloud and sustainability: What is the relationship?
According to the Green Software Foundation, ‘all software, from applications running on mobile phones to machine learning models running in data centres, consumes electricity. One of the best ways to reduce the electricity consumption and subsequent carbon emissions produced by software is to make applications more energy efficient.’
By using the cloud appropriately, individuals and organisations can also contribute to global sustainability for a variety of reasons. The main ones are presented below:
- Resource consolidation: With cloud computing, multiple companies can share the physical infrastructure of data centres and use it on demand. This eliminates the need for each company to maintain its own servers and redundant facilities, resulting in a reduction in resource waste. The use of virtualisation is also a strong ally in this process, as it allows multiple operating systems to run on a single physical server, reducing the amount of hardware needed and saving energy and physical space. According to the Green Software Foundation, ‘in the cloud, hardware efficiency generally translates into increased server utilisation. It is better to use one server at 100% utilisation than five servers at 20% utilisation due to the cost of embedded carbon.”
- Elasticity: The elasticity of the cloud allows users to adjust resources according to real-time demands and needs. This means that computing resources can be optimised to match exact needs, avoiding excessive energy consumption during periods of low demand.
- Hardware recycling: Cloud service providers regularly upgrade and replace hardware to maintain the efficiency of their operations. Some of them implement hardware recycling programmes, which contributes to the reduction of electronic waste.
- Remote working: Cloud computing also facilitates remote working and online collaboration. This practice reduces the need for daily commutes to the office and data centres, resulting in lower carbon emissions associated with transport use.
The effectiveness of sustainability in the cloud depends on how we build and use it
Simply migrating your workloads to the cloud does not guarantee major improvements in technical efficiency and sustainability. However, using the cloud provides the structure to optimise and restructure your services, making them increasingly sustainable and technically scalable, distributed and cloud-native.
An Accenture study highlights three levels of ambition for the journey towards sustainability in cloud use:
The study also reveals that ‘compared to traditional infrastructure, initial migrations to the cloud are capable of reducing carbon emissions by more than 84%. These reductions can be even more significant with the development of cloud-specific applications, reaching up to 98%.’
In addition to the factors mentioned above, when using the cloud, it is important to consider other aspects, such as the region where you will store your data and applications. The Green Software Foundation points out that ‘carbon intensity varies by location, as some regions have an energy mix that contains more clean energy sources than others.’
Measuring your carbon footprint in the cloud
If you already use the cloud, you should know that it is possible to measure and receive suggestions on how to minimise your carbon footprint in the cloud based on your consumption and use of resources.
Conclusion
To be successful in building sustainable cloud solutions, it is essential to think innovatively and use it properly. Simply migrating to the cloud and using only Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) or maintaining applications with inefficient code and adding more hardware to sustain high performance is not enough. Application modernisation and building cloud-native solutions are critical to success on this journey towards a more technological and sustainable world.
