Category: Environment
- How much water do data centers use? ()
US data centers are expected to use 660 billion litres of water in 2020. In 2018, Google consumed 15.79bn litres and Microsoft 3.61bn litres, primarily for their data centers. What is this used for and how does it impact the environment?
- Energy efficiency, edge compute and serverless ()
We want to encourage more efficient use of cloud resources but designing incentives is hard. That changes with serverless and edge compute. Now energy usage is linked to price.
- Carbon emissions aware cloud compute ()
The first example of carbon aware compute is uniquely suited to hyperscale cloud environments. It becomes even more interesting with carbon aware load balancing and serverless.
- The environmental impact of buying a new laptop – comparing the MacBook Air and Surface Laptop ()
Apple produces the most environmentally friendly laptops from both a carbon footprint and energy efficiency perspective, but it depends on which model you compare. The best thing you can do for the environment is to not buy a new laptop.
- Data center energy and the importance of efficiency ()
Data center energy usage has only grown by 6% in the last decade. How important have efficiency improvements been for decoupling energy from growth?
- How much energy do data centers use? ()
Data centers are responsible for between 1-1.5% of global electricity usage today but some scenarios project that will grow to 3-13% by 2030. How realistic is this? How efficient are servers and data centers? Will efficiency continue to improve?
- How can data centers use 100% renewable electricity? ()
If we still generate energy from non-renewable sources, how can a data center be 100% renewable? What does 100% renewables and sustainability mean for data centers and the cloud?
- Environmental circular economy and resource efficiency pledges in the UK General Election 2019 ()
Comparing Labour and Conservative party General Election 2019 manifesto pledges on the environmental resource efficiency and the circular economy.
- Assessing the Uses of Contemporary Aerial and Space Borne Sources of Remote Sensing Data ()
Focusing on the era since Landsat-1, this essay will consider the development and application of space borne remote sensing techniques alongside aerial applications. The more recent development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) will also be examined.
- Sustainability doesn’t work without transparency ()
Why can’t environmental impact be like the price mechanism in a properly competitive market?