Cloud computing and its environmental impact

An approach to digital pollution

What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing, in simple terms, means storing and accessing information and programs (applications) over the Internet instead of from a personal computer hard drive, or in the case of a business, from an on-site server. And it is referred to as the cloud, because in the past when presentations were made about clusters of servers, the Internet was represented as a cloud. Cloud computing offers new computational models where resources such as online applications, computing power, storage, and network infrastructure can be shared as services over the Internet.

Its implementation has enabled the creation of useful applications in domains such as science, education and business. The large-scale potential of online banking, social networking, e-commerce, e-government, e-government, information processing, and other services result in workloads of immense range and scale.

Environmental impact of cloud computing

All of the above results in a gigantic consumption of electrical energy and carbon dioxide emissions.

To begin with, the mining and extraction of raw materials, e.g., cobalt, palladium, tantalum, silver, gold, indium, copper, lithium and magnesium; as well as the production of microelectronic components, especially integrated circuits, are major contributors to the decline of fossil fuels. They are also responsible for abiotic resource depletion, global warming, freshwater eutrophication, soil acidification, human toxicity, freshwater toxicity, and marine and terrestrial toxicity.

By November 2019, a local media reported that Google's plans to create a huge data processing center in Luxembourg, provoked the concern of its inhabitants, concerning energy and water consumption. It is estimated that the operation of this center requires 10 million liters of water per day, which represents 10% of the total consumption of the Luxembourg population. It was also estimated that the data processing center would consume about 7% of the country's electricity supply during the first phase, rising to 12% in the second phase.

Possible solutions

The solution is not to stop using the technology. Infrastructures are needed to support cloud computing more efficiently. But the responsibility also lies with the consumer. Because each digital file in the cloud takes up physical space on a server and every time a request is made from a device to access it, energy is consumed. So, for example, instead of having 10 photos that are almost the same, we should be aware and choose the one we like the most. In the case of e-mails, it would be a good practice to unsubscribe from newsletters that we do not read and also delete e-mails that no longer bring us anything. In the case of documents, we should delete those that are drafts and only keep the one we need.

Likewise, in the case of electronic devices, we should make better use of them and avoid falling into the tendency to buy each time a new one comes on the market. In addition, when they are no longer used, recycling allows us to reuse resources and reduce the extraction of raw materials to create new ones. These are small actions that on a global scale have and will have a great impact.

Cristina

Developer