Modern technology presents several advantages for businesses. And as worldwide concern regarding the consistently increasing depletion of natural resources continues to skyrocket, many companies have made an effort to go green. To reduce their carbon footprint and reduce their environmental impact, many organizations have gone paperless and made the shift to cloud computing. To put it simply, this means that digital files and forms utilized for corporate purposes have eliminated the need for physical copies.
Cloud computing has experienced an uptick in popularity throughout the past decade. By investing in cloud computing, businesses can store all files, with varying degrees of sensitivity, electronically. Cloud computing offers environmental benefits in addition to its technological and financial advantages. Notably impacting society and the natural environment, cloud computing necessitates fewer servers powered by renewable resources at rapidly growing rates, successfully minimizing energy consumption, carbon emissions, and waste. As a result of cloud computing, according to The Guardian, companies that transition their data from physical servers to the cloud can potentially eradicate up to half of their carbon emissions.
Minimizes Energy Usage
On-site data centers demand an immense amount of power to operate. Servers require constant, uninterrupted power, cooling systems must function to avoid overheating, and obsolete equipment must be disposed of, adding to the world’s electronic waste problem. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), data centers exhaust around 1.8% of the United States’ yearly overall energy consumption, which equates to nearly 70 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.
Nevertheless, green cloud computing has the potential to reduce these numbers significantly. Illustrating this, a study performed by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory determined that shifting business software to the cloud on a national scale could save the amount of electricity required to power Los Angeles for an entire year. In other words, cloud computing could lower the total energy consumption of software applications like email, CRM, etc. by nearly 90%. As enterprises continue to switch to cloud computing, they will reduce their energy usage, saving between 60% and 85% in energy expenses.
Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Traditional data hardware systems and on-site data centers give rise to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions throughout their life cycles. The production of raw materials for technological equipment, assembly of equipment, transportation of equipment to on-site data centers, use of equipment, and disposal of outdated equipment all produce GHG.
Fortunately, cloud computing reduces the rate of carbon emissions by minimizing the amount of energy required and consumed. With a significant effect on decreasing carbon emissions, cloud computing can lower the per-use carbon footprint of large enterprises (up to 30%) and small businesses (up to 90%). Thus, by leveraging offsite services, companies can contribute to reducing carbon emissions. And more often than not, cloud infrastructure vastly outperforms on-site services, in terms of both “embedded carbon” and energy efficiency.
Efficient Equipment and Fewer Machines
When business data sources transfer to the cloud, “the data is monitored and stored through cloud providers with larger data centers.” Dematerialization, or the substitution of high-carbon physical products with virtual alternatives, contributes to reducing energy usage and carbon footprint. By migrating to the cloud, companies use fewer machines and hardware, consuming less energy and reducing environmental impacts. Furthermore, virtual services and cloud datacenters can free up capital for profitable projects as they incur lower energy bills. And cloud computing centers utilize less energy for lighting, cooling, and powering conditioningunits by sharing services and maximizing resources.
Server utilization is typically immensely high in business environments that have yet to adopt cloud technologies. To get through the workday and complete all required tasks, several computers and an abundance of technological equipment are necessary for essential staff. Nevertheless, once integrated, cloud technology enables users to utilize shared data on fewer servers, potentially reducing server utilization rates. In consolidating machines’ use and allowing servers to function at higher utilization rates, cloud computing boosts overall efficiency. Thus, shared data centers empower employees to accomplish the same amount of work in a day only with fewer machines. As a result of highly utilized infrastructure, public cloud servers often provide between two and four times greater efficiency than traditional data centers.
Contact Speelyaal today to inquire about Thalaam, our cloud computing platform. Focusing on multi-cloud, faster application delivery, and cost control, Thalaam allows users to devote more attention to their business rather than overhead costs. Visit our website today for a cloud cost estimation.
Limits Carbon Footprint with Renewable Energy Sources and Virtualization
Green cloud datacenters have switched to renewable energy sources, simultaneously powering their operations and limiting their carbon footprint. Such green cloud datacenters are utilizing renewable energy sources like geothermal, hydropower, solar, and wind. Data centers are anticipated to account for 4.5% of global electricity consumption by 2025. With this in mind, options that do not add to a business’s carbon footprint are essential.
However, virtualization also empowers reduced carbon footprints, requiring fewer physical servers to support the same workloads. This actively eliminates a lot of e-waste and necessitates less physical datacenter space.
Lessens Negative Climate Impact
The advancements in energy efficiency provided by the cloud result in fewer carbon emissions and vastly reduced negative climate impact. Using a 28% fewer carbon-intense power mix than the average corporate data center, cloud providers offer businesses a much greener alternative. Additionally, cloud computing also affects climate control costs. The cloud is much less expensive to operate the cloud than running inefficient machines at peak performance levels in even the most ideal temperature levels. As a result of energy-efficient equipment and reduced carbon emissions, wasteful spending is eradicated by the cloud.
Revolutionizing the IT industry in countless ways, the cloud’s positive climate impact is merely one of the several benefits it offers. Nonetheless, amidst a volatile time in which global warming and climate change are increasingly pressing issues, the cloud’s significant environmental benefits should not be overlooked. Cloud computing allows for the safe storage of data, increases efficiency, and reduces costs, while also providing an opportunity to reduce energy consumption and carbon footprints. And with the potential to reduce carbon emissions by millions of metric tons and save billions of dollars in energy costs, cloud computing supplies businesses with a seamless answer for a greener future.
Pick a cloud computing plan best suited to your business’s needs today by reviewing Thalaam’s cloud cost visualizer.
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