Through industry collaboration, we aim to create a more sustainable technology sector and build products and services that benefit the environment. For example, we funded a research study conducted by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to measure the energy impact of cloud computing. We also hosted events in 2009 and 2011 where we discussed with industry peers how we can improve on data center efficiency. In 2013, we hosted the “How green is the Internet?” summit to explore the environmental impacts and benefits of the Internet.
Funded by Google, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory investigated the energy impact of cloud computing. Their research indicates that moving all office workers in the United States to the cloud could reduce the energy used by information technology by up to 87%.
These energy savings are mainly driven by increased data center efficiency when using cloud services (email, calendars, and more). The cloud supports many products at a time, so it can more efficiently distribute resources among many users. That means we can do more with less energy.
The study is based on a unique open model. It allows researchers, academia and others to change any inputs (such as number of servers or type of devices), and generate their own customized reports.
“How green is the Internet?”
In June 2013, we hosted the “How green is the Internet?” summit. During this gathering, experts from industry, academia, government and NGOs explored questions about the environmental impacts and benefits of the Internet.
How is the increased use of the Internet by consumers, businesses and governments affecting society from an environmental perspective? Is the Internet delivering transformative benefits or unforeseen costs? The summit discussed these and and other related questions.
We believe that by exploring these topics, we can make better decisions that benefit the environment.
Al Gore - Former Vice President of the United States
Eric Schmidt - Executive Chairman, Google
Jon Koomey - Stanford University
Overview of research: Impacts and benefits of the Internet
Key findings and conclusions of the summit
The majority of energy savings from moving to the cloud are driven by moving applications from locally hosted IT to large data centers that use equipment and software specially designed to minimize energy use.
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has made its model publicly available. This means you can plug in your own assumptions and generate your own results.