Energy-efficient Cloud Computing Technologies
Policies for an Eco-friendly Cloud Market
Which IT infrastructures and IT services are used over the internet and how they will develop in the European Union in the coming years was subject of a study, carried out by the Austrian Umweltbundesamt and the German Borderstep Institute for Innovation and Sustainability. On behalf of the European Commission, the expert institutions assessed the current and future energy consumption of cloud computing services and elaborated recommendations for energy-efficient cloud computing, particularly in relation to future research and development, Green Public Procurement and market policies.
Greening cloud computing
The period 2010-2018 saw a huge increase in the energy demand of data centres in EU Member States, from about 54 to about 77 terawatt hours per year. The drivers of energy demand are digitalisation and an increase in the availability and use of cloud services. These developments more than offset the substantial efficiency gains that have been achieved in the last few years with improvements of hardware, software and data centre infrastructure. But the increase in the energy demand of data centres can still be slowed down. Through efforts of industry and politics, e.g. through the use of energy-efficient technology, by right approaches in research and development policy or in public procurement, it is possible to reduce energy demand of data centres to the 2010 level again by 2030. According to the study, a more efficient energy use of cloud computing in the future is possible, e.g. in the field of software development for compute-intensive applications such as simulation calculations and artificial intelligence. Transfer within data networks, improved utilisation of available computing resources and the use of new efficient hardware can all be improved and made less energy consuming.
The study provides a basis for promoting sustainable development in the areas of green IT infrastructure and was published by the European Commission in November 2020.