Addressing the Environmental
Toll of Cloud Computing,
AI & Data Centers
Cloud Sustainability Watch is a volunteer group
enabling technologists to adopt sustainable computing
You are the solution
We formed Cloud Sustainability Watch because we thought it was too hard for technologists to find green software tools and sustainable IT information when they needed it.
This website solves that problem.
Cloud Sustainability Watch is a hub that connects you to a wide range of sustainable computing resources, helping you learn and get started quickly.
We suggest you click Plan a Project to access practical steps that walk through a green computing project. It’s our (free) “Tech Professionals’ Guide to Sustainable Computing” and enables software developers, web developers, architects, Dev/Cloud Ops, and IT leaders to mitigate the environmental impacts of cloud instances, software, and websites.
We also provide a directory of Sustainable Computing Tools from across the web, as well as directories for you to find expert consultants and classes.
Our Explore Issues section provides topical summaries about data centers, AI, and cloud computing, for further context and background. And our extensive Resource Link Library connects you to web articles, research, blogs, podcasts, and organizations to immerse you in green computing.
We want to help everyone become equipped and knowledgeable.
Want to…
Plan a
project?
Find sustainable
computing tools?
Get expert
help?
Green your
own computing?
Every day, decisions about software applications and websites impact our communities and environment
75% of technologists would like to reduce the environmental impact of their work but over 50% don’t know how and just 11% measure & manage IT carbon emissions
This escalating problem requires attention from those who can reverse it: the users and customers of data centers, AI, and cloud computing. When people and organizations work online–building a slide presentation or coding software on the cloud–they create environmental and financial consequences. The user devices, networks, and data centers that deliver the online applications such as AI image generators and manufacturing control systems will overconsume water and power and drive carbon emissions unless they are designed and managed with sustainability in mind.
Every Action Makes a Lasting Difference
Solutions such as green software design, streamlined AI use, and greenhouse gas emissions tracking, all exist today. But information technology decision makers must take action to embrace these techniques, slow their companies’ climate impacts. and optimize resource consumption. Often, these techniques help to reduce business expenses too. Every platform improvement saves water, power, carbon emissions, noise, and air pollution for as long as the platform endures.
US data centers produced 105 million tons CO2e in the past year
Reported in “Environmental Burden of US Data Centers in the Artificial Intelligence Era” Nov 14 2024
Upcoming sustainable computing events
Oct 28-30
VERGE25 San Jose
“Where Climate Meets Technology”
Cloud Sustainability Watch will be there
Nov 13-14
ecoCompute Conference Berlin
“The biggest engineering conference on
sustainability in hardware & software”
News & Insights
Explore our latest news, analysis and breaking news from leading publications which help drive awareness and action on the environmental impact of cloud computing, AI, and data centers.
Blog
ExxonMobil builds gas plants for data centers and locks in customers for 30 years
December 17, 2024