AzureBootcamp2023: Estimate your Clouds Carbon Footprint by Wibke Sudholt

Climate change and the looming energy crisis increasingly also have an impact on IT. Apart from moral responsibility there are serious commercial forces connected to this, including rising costs and risks of business interruption as well as influences on corporate image and government regulations. Cloud computing is debated to be both a problem as well as an answer here. Therefore, it is important to consider the sustainability of Microsoft Azure. Microsoft provides several tools to evaluate and drive sustainability aspects such as energy consumption and carbon footprint. This goes from a simple website to estimate the emission savings for Microsoft Cloud over the Emissions Impact Dashboard for Microsoft Azure in Power BI up to the Microsoft Sustainability Manager, an elaborated solution to record, report and reduce your environmental impact. Furthermore, there are external solutions such as the free and open source tool Cloud Carbon Footprint, which allows to estimate the energy consumption and carbon emissions of cloud usage across several hyperscalers. This talk starts with a summary about what is publicly known regarding the sustainability of the Microsoft Azure cloud in general. We then look at the different tools that are available to estimate important metrics such as carbon emissions and what their capabilities and use cases are. I’ll also show limits, in particular the complexity to calculate sustainability indicators for on-premises data centers in comparison to cloud. Goal is to give you an overview at hand helping you to judge how well the Microsoft Azure cloud supports you on your way to a more sustainable future.
🙂 WIBKE SUDHOLT ⚡️ Head of Biz Dev Cloud & DC @ SPIE ICS AG

Transcript

1. Public SPIE, sharing a vision for the future Wibke Sudholt Head of Biz Dev Cloud & DC How can Microsoft Azure help with sustainability? Methods to estimate your cloud’s carbon footprint
2. Public About me – Wibke Sudholt - 2 - Background: Originally from Germany Studied to become a Computational Chemist Postdocs in the USA and Switzerland Career: Project Leader for grid computing at University of Zurich (2005-2008) Cofounder of a startup for compute-intensive applications in the cloud (2008-2016) Senior Manager for Cloud & Managed Services at ELCA (2017-2022) Head of Cloud Development / Biz Dev Cloud & DC at SPIE ICS (2022-2023) Cloud experience: Started with software development on Amazon Web Services Then focused on cloud and data center infrastructure and added Microsoft Azure / M365 Emphasis on cloud strategy and business development More information: Website: https://wibke.sudholt.net LinkedIn: https://ch.linkedin.com/in/wibkesudholt
3. Public About SPIE 48,000 employees in 8 subsidiaries are working with customers to make the energy transition and responsible digital transformation a success. SPIE is the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communications. In Switzerland, 600 employees work at 8 locations in Multi-Technical Services, Information & Communication Services and Integral Facility Services. - 3 - More information: https://www.spie.ch
4. Public Possible temperature development in Switzerland - 4 - Source: UVEK & BAFU, “Switzerland's Long-Term Climate Strategy and the Role of Negative Emission Technologies”, https://www.bafu.admin.ch/dam/bafu/en/dokumente/klima/fachinfo- daten/musterpraesentation_langfristige_klimastrategie_negativemissionstechnologien.pdf.download.pdf/Musterpr%C3%A4sentation_Langfristige_Klimastrategie_und_NET_EN.pdf
5. Public Overview of Swiss reduction targets - 5 - Source: UVEK & BAFU, “Switzerland's Long-Term Climate Strategy and the Role of Negative Emission Technologies”, https://www.bafu.admin.ch/dam/bafu/en/dokumente/klima/fachinfo- daten/musterpraesentation_langfristige_klimastrategie_negativemissionstechnologien.pdf.download.pdf/Musterpr%C3%A4sentation_Langfristige_Klimastrategie_und_NET_EN.pdf Referendum about the indirect counter-proposal to the Glacier Initiative (Climate Protection Law) 18.06.2023
6. Public SPIE 2022 non-financial performance – Environment - 6 - Sources: SPIE, “2022 Integrated Annual Report:”, https://lib.spie.com/media/33dc3fe0-caea-4fb3-b242-0e7f7419e9f3#v=Version1&l=en&lc=1&p=22; SPIE, “EcoVadis and S&P: SPIE in the top 10%”, 09.11.2022, https://www.spie.com/en/news/ecovadis-and-sp-spie-top-10-its-sector-terms-csr
7. Public Microsoft 2021 environmental sustainability report - 7 - Source: Microsoft, “2021 Environmental Sustainability Report”, https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE4RwfV Carbon negative company by 2030 Water positive company by 2030 Zero waste company by 2030 Ecosystems protect more land than used by 2025
8. Public Greenhouse gas emissions in Switzerland - 8 - Source: UVEK & BAFU, “Emissionen von Treibhausgasen nach CO2-Gesetz und Übereinkommen von Paris”, April 2023, https://www.bafu.admin.ch/dam/bafu/de/dokumente/klima/fachinfo-daten/CO2_Statistik.pdf.download.pdf/CO2_Publikation_de_2023-04.pdf
9. Public Greenhouse gas emissions of ICT - 9 - The ICT sector causes between 1.5% and 4% of global GHG emissions. Source: J.C.T. Bieser, R. Hintemann, L.M. Hilty, S. Beucker, “A review of assessments of the greenhouse gas footprint and abatement potential of information and communication technology”, Environmental Impact Assessment Review 99 (107033) 1-12, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2022.107033, https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-228892
10. Public Greenhouse Gas Protocol - 10 - Scope 1 = Direct GHG emissions: From owned or operated assets For example, the fumes from the tailpipes of a company’s fleet of vehicles Scope 2 = Energy indirect GHG emissions: From purchased energy Scope 3 = Other indirect GHG emissions: From everything else Suppliers, distributors, product use, etc. > 70% for many businesses Sources: WBCSD & WRI, “The Greenhouse Gas Protocol”, March 2004, https://ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/standards/ghg-protocol-revised.pdf; Greenhouse Gas Protocol, “You, too, can master value chain emissions”, 17.01.2019, https://ghgprotocol.org/blog/you-too-can-master-value-chain-emissions; Microsoft, “A new approach for Scope 3 emissions transparency”, 2021, https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkID=2161861
11. Public Data center sustainability – Cisco UCS-X computing platform series - 11 - Optimized power and heat operations (11% SERT improvement): Maximum real estate for efficient x86 design Most efficient power delivery system Innovative heat dissipation Modular and shared common infrastructure Exceed environmental regulations Optimized architecture and maximum component element life: Enhanced Unified Compute experience for x86, storage, network edge Disaggregation of the x86 node Future-ready Source: Dan Hanson, Cisco, “UCS X-Series answers IT’s demands for a more sustainable data center”, 30.09.2022, https://blogs.cisco.com/datacenter/ucs-x-series-answers-its-demands-for-a-more-sustainable-data-center
12. Public Recommen- dation Data analysis Definition of objectives and scope Data collection 1 Carbon footprint calculation 2 3 4 5 Power CPU RAM SSD HDD NIC Autres Scope 2 CPU RAM SSD HDD NIC Autres Scope 3 CPU RAM SSD HDD NIC PSU Enclosure Assembly Motherboard Autres Scope 2+3 CPU RAM SSD HDD NIC PSU Enclosure Assembly Motherboard Autres Client Auditeur SPIE Contact Date Bilan carbone Scope 2 2 023 kg CO2e 2 596 W Bilan carbone Scope 3 4 563 kg CO2e 48 693 kWh Total Bilan carbone 6 586 kg CO2e Conso élec (avec PUE DC) Puissance infra moyenne Vue globale Calculatrice Empreinte Carbone d'Infrastructure Data Center Contexte Bilan carbone Scope 2 Bilan carbone Scope 3 Data center carbon footprint assessment by SPIE 12 Technique, team, reference period Measurement tools, carbon emissions database Input: Technical data and measurements Output: Consumption, scopes 2 and 3 By type of equipment and at subsystem level Action plan, green IT trajectories, digital moderation Stakeholder awareness throughout the assessment Based on the Bilan Carbone ® method developed by ADEME Source: SPIE ICS France
13. Public Covered cloud sustainability tools Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability: Emissions Savings Estimator for Microsoft Cloud Emissions Impact Dashboard for Azure Emissions Impact Dashboard for Microsoft 365 Microsoft Sustainability Manager Cloud Carbon Footprint Other tools – not covered here: AWS, Google Cloud, etc. Cirrus Nexus TrueCarbonTM, Climatiq, Greenpixie, Supercritical, etc. - 13 - In the following screenshots real tool installations, but mock or demo data provided with the tools are shown.
14. Public Sustainability of Microsoft Cloud - 14 - Azure Compute: 52-79% more energy efficient 92-98% lower carbon emissions with renewable energy Azure Storage: 71-79% more energy efficient 79-83% lower carbon emissions with renewable energy Source: Microsoft & WSP, “The carbon benefits of cloud computing”, 2020, https://download.microsoft.com/download/7/3/9/739BC4AD-A855-436E-961D-9C95EB51DAF9/Microsoft_Cloud_Carbon_Study_2018.pdf
15. Public Emissions Savings Estimator for Microsoft Cloud - 15 - Source: Microsoft, “Emissions savings estimator for Microsoft Cloud”, https://gw.us-il301.gateway.prod.island.powerapps.com/customerenrollmentservice/estimator/index.html
16. Public Microsoft Cloud customer emissions allocation methodology - 16 - Source: Microsoft, “A new approach for Scope 3 emissions transparency”, 2021, https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkID=2161861
17. Public Microsoft Emissions Impact Dashboards - 17 - Description: Estimation and tracking of carbon emissions related to Microsoft Cloud usage Power BI template apps for Azure and Microsoft 365 Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability API (Preview) – not covered here Pricing for free Source: Website: https://www.microsoft.com/en- us/sustainability/emissions-impact- dashboard USPs: Calculation with validated carbon accounting methodology Monitoring of direct and indirect GHG emissions from cloud usage Estimates of avoided emissions Usage-based emissions data by emissions scope, type, region and time period Sharing of findings via cloud data export
18. Public Emissions Impact Dashboard for Azure – Overview - 18 - Source: Emissions Impact Dashboard for Azure screenshot
19. Public Emissions Impact Dashboard for Azure – Details - 19 - Emissions savings GHG preparation report Usage report Sources: Emissions Impact Dashboard for Azure screenshots
20. Public Emissions Impact Dashboard for Microsoft 365 – Overview - 20 - Source: Emissions Impact Dashboard for Microsoft 365 screenshot
21. Public Microsoft Sustainability Manager - 21 - Description: Solution for sustainability reporting with analytics capabilities Record, report and reduce organization’s environmental impact Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability data model Technical support Pricing USD 4,000 per tenant per month Sources: Website: https://www.microsoft.com/en- us/sustainability/cloud Get started guide: https://clouddamcdnprodep. azureedge.net/gdc/gdcMqJ60s/original Free trial for 30 days: https://dynamics. microsoft.com/en-us/sustainability/ sustainability/free-trial/ Pricing guide: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/? linkid=2219446 USPs: Automated data collection with prebuilt connectors Centralized sustainability data from disparate sources Prebuilt methodologies to calculate GHG emissions across scopes Data analytics, visualization and dashboards Actionable insights and performance tracking Configurable preparatory reports Scorecards and goal setting Seamless collaboration with Microsoft Teams Integrated sustainability insights
22. Public Microsoft Sustainability Manager – Carbon activities - 22 - Source: Microsoft Sustainability Manager screenshot
23. Public Microsoft Sustainability Manager – Data providers - 23 - Source: Microsoft Sustainability Manager screenshot
24. Public Microsoft Sustainability Manager – Calculations - 24 - Source: Microsoft Sustainability Manager screenshot
25. Public Microsoft Sustainability Manager – Analytics - 25 - Source: Microsoft Sustainability Manager screenshot
26. Public Microsoft Sustainability Manager – Settings - 26 - Source: Microsoft Sustainability Manager screenshot
27. Public Cloud Carbon Footprint - 27 - Description: Cloud carbon emissions measurement and analysis tool Uses best practices to convert cloud utilization into estimated energy usage and carbon emissions metrics Web app, API, CLI and lookup table Free and open source Sponsored by Thoughtworks under the Apache License, Version 2.0 Sources: Website: https://www.cloudcarbonfootprint.org Demo: https://demo.cloudcarbonfootprint.org GitHub: https://github.com/cloud-carbon- footprint/cloud-carbon-footprint USPs: Works for multiple cloud providers including AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure Provides estimates for both energy and carbon emissions for different types of cloud usage Gives actionable recommendations for AWS and Google Cloud and projected savings Measures usage at a granular service level and uses actual server utilization Monitors visually via graphs and charts or export of metrics Offers multiple ways to integrate energy and carbon metrics Extensible to other cloud providers, on premises or collocated data centers
28. Public Cloud Carbon Footprint – Methodology - 28 - Total CO2e = Operational emissions + Embodied emissions Operational emissions = (Cloud provider service usage) x (Cloud energy conversion factors [kWh]) x (Cloud provider Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE)) x (Grid emissions factors [metric tons CO2e]) Embodied emissions = Estimated metric tons CO2e emissions from the manufacturing of data center servers, for compute usage Source: Cloud Carbon Footprint, “Methodology”, https://www.cloudcarbonfootprint.org/docs/methodology
29. Public Cloud Carbon Footprint – Azure energy coefficients - 29 - Average Minimum Watts (0% CPU Utilization): 0.78 Average Maximum Watts (100% CPU Utilization): 3.76 Average CPU Utilization for hyperscale data centers: 50% HDD Storage Watt Hours / Terabyte: 0.65 SSD Storage Watt Hours / Terabyte: 1.2 Networking Kilowatt Hours / Gigabyte: 0.001 Memory Kilowatt Hours / Gigabyte: 0.000392 Average PUE: 1.125 Source: Cloud Carbon Footprint, “Methodology”, https://www.cloudcarbonfootprint.org/docs/methodology
30. Public Cloud Carbon Footprint – Cloud usage - 30 - Source: Cloud Carbon Footprint screenshot
31. Public Emissions equivalents Emissions breakdowns Cloud Carbon Footprint – Emissions - 31 - Sources: Cloud Carbon Footprint screenshots
32. Public Cloud Carbon Footprint – Recommendations - 32 - Source: Cloud Carbon Footprint screenshot
33. Public Cloud Carbon Footprint – Azure carbon intensity map - 33 - Source: Cloud Carbon Footprint screenshot
34. Public Cloud Carbon Footprint – AWS carbon intensity map - 34 - Source: Cloud Carbon Footprint screenshot
35. Public Cloud Carbon Footprint – GCP carbon intensity map - 35 - Source: Cloud Carbon Footprint screenshot
36. Public Criticisms to cloud sustainability - 36 - Emission calculation methodologies vary between cloud providers and are often only based on partial coverage. Emissions are either cloud providers’ or others’ Scope 1 and first need to be reduced. However, cloud business grows and the use of cloud creates a rebound effect plus more redundancy. Electricity even from renewable energy sources, a prominent example of Scope 2, is not carbon-free. Most of the cloud emissions are Scope 3, which are hard to measure and control and depend on the decarbonizing of suppliers. CO2 removal via carbon sinks or removal credits is an important long-term strategy. But carbon neutrality cannot be defined at a company, product or service level, only on a global scale. Sources: Grace Donnelly, Tech Brew, “‘The cloud is not a cloud’: The carbon footprint of digital technologies is vast”, 29.06.2022, https://www.emergingtechbrew.com/stories/2022/06/29/the-cloud-is-not-a-cloud-the-carbon-footprint-of-digital-technologies-is-vast; Mélodie Pitre & Hélène Chauviré, Carbone4, “Cloud carbon footprint: Do Amazon, Microsoft and Google have their head in the clouds?”, 02.11.2022, https://www.carbone4.com/en/analysis-carbon-footprint-cloud
37. Public SPIE, sharing a vision for the future Thank you! Q&A