What is Green Cloud Storage & Which Providers Offer It in 2024?
How Green Are the Top Cloud Service Providers?
The top three cloud providers — AWS, Azure and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) — are green to varying degrees. These companies have different practices in place to make their processes more green. Below is a rundown of how green each provider is.
1. AWS
As of 2022, Amazon — AWS’s parent company — reported that it runs 90% of its processes via energy from renewable sources, with 19 out of 30 regions using 100% renewable energy.4 It also switched to using hydrotreated vegetable oil as a renewable alternative for powering its backup generators.
In 2023, AWS used low-carbon building materials and steel in the construction of 43 data centers.4 Currently, about 20 of its data centers use recycled water for cooling. Generally, it has a water efficiency of around 0.18 liters per kilowatt-hour.5
Besides the buildings themselves, AWS uses high-efficiency hardware, such as Graviton3 processors and Inferentia2 (a machine-learning inference chip). It adopts seasonal cooling techniques, which optimize cooling resources depending on the weather.
2. Azure
Azure uses liquid immersion cooling, which is one of the most effective and efficient cooling methods. Beyond that, Microsoft — Azure’s parent company — helps to promote water conservation in regions like Cape Town and Washington. It also contributes to reforestation initiatives in Ireland and urban reforestation projects in Iowa.6
Azure has integrated grid-interactive UPS batteries into its data center power supply and uses low-carbon fuels, thereby reducing its carbon footprint. In addition, it aims to be carbon-negative by 2030.6 Check out our Microsoft Azure Review to learn everything there is to know about the service.
3. Google Cloud Platform
Google Cloud runs some of its data centers on solar and wind energy. Alongside its sustainability partners, it’s moving away from potable water usage while increasing water circularity efforts. Currently, it has replenished up to 18% of its freshwater consumption.8
Additionally, GCP is helping to restore wildlife with an initiative involving endangered monarch butterflies in California.7 It’s also trending toward using reduced plastic and plastic-free products.8
As of 2023, Google had gone 64% carbon-free across its data centers and offices. However, Google’s total greenhouse gas emissions had increased by 13%.8
Final Thoughts: Environmental Challenges & Cloud Computing
Green cloud practices protect the environment from the aftereffects of cloud resource consumption. They also ensure operational efficiency and reduced wastage.
Currently, the top three cloud providers have green cloud targets for 2025 and 2030, plus other broader environmental initiatives, and many other cloud service providers are following suit. That means customers can expect green cloud computing to be more prominent in the years to come.
What do you consider to be the most effective green cloud practice so far? What are the most important green strategies that cloud companies can implement? Which cloud provider do you think is the greenest right now? Let us know what you think — leave a comment below. Thanks for reading.