Hi Watchers!
Let’s discuss the biggest cloud companies and their roles in the sustainability of cloud computing.
Largest impact overall
The largest cloud computing brands that hold 2/3 of the market are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Microsoft Azure–The Big 3. The large environmental impact of the Big 3’s global data center infrastructure has drawn attention from internal stakeholders and outside organizations, including Greenpeace, the EU government, and university researchers. These companies’ success or failure in reducing their environmental impact affects climate change worldwide. They lead among US corporations in setting voluntary targets for emissions reduction, and they are the largest corporate purchasers of renewable power. The enormous pace of demand from their customers are outstripping the progress of their sustainability programs.
Lowest impact per customer
The largest cloud providers run the most efficient data centers in the public cloud computing industry, so anyone using on-premise data centers and wishing to reduce their carbon footprint should migrate to the Big 3. They also buy enormous amounts of low-carbon electricity to power their data centers. We recommend migration to a Big 3 location that offers low-carbon services over less carbon-efficient alternatives.
Data centers and their impact on communities
Large data center campuses operate around the world, and in each location local environmental impacts exist. Water, power, noise, and landscape are all negatively affected, and residents are opposing projects. The Big 3 face difficulties siting their facilities in locations that can support their power and water needs. These facilities can take as much as a quarter of local drinking water supplies and as much electrical power as one million US households.
Our position
The size, growth and influence of AWS, Azure, and GCP—the Big 3 brands and market leaders in global cloud computing services—create an obligation to invest as much money and attention as possible into reducing environmental impact in the face of exploding market demand. Their hyperscale infrastructure is the pace-setting leader in energy efficiency, access to low-carbon electricity and facilities operation. However, the local environmental impacts of their data centers are often severe, and the Big 3 must spend what it takes to dramatically reduce impacts for existing campuses and going forward site facilities in areas with adequate power (ideally low carbon) and an absence of drought conditions.
The three companies vary substantially in their disclosure of climate information, with Amazon notably trailing the other two, likely because their enormous global retail business makes this more difficult. We see an imperative for these organizations to share transparent and meaningful information about their environmental impact and to achieve their public targets for reduced GHG emissions, elimination of emissions, and becoming water positive by 2030.
We will discuss the Bog 3 cloud providers in the “Explore Issues” section of our website (link)