Sustainability has become an increasingly significant topic for businesses around the world. In fact, 90% of S&P 500 companies published a sustainability report in 2019, highlighting how environmental sustainability has become a top priority for businesses. The good news is that sustainable technology can improve energy and material efficiency, enable customers' sustainability, and provide new growth opportunities.
In our recent webinar "Greening the Cloud," co-presenters Jonathan McCracken and Madi Soto discussed sustainability in the cloud, with a particular focus on how Amazon Web Services (AWS) can help businesses build sustainable workloads. Here's a recap of what was covered in the webinar:
Amazon's Climate Pledge sets the ambitious target of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 and powering operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025. With over 400 renewable energy projects in place, AWS aims to make it easier for businesses to embark on their sustainability journey.
Migration and optimization are the two primary ways AWS helps customers improve sustainability. Migrating to the cloud can significantly reduce carbon footprint compared to on-premise data centers. Meanwhile, the Well-Architected Framework for Sustainability Pillar optimizes workloads for energy conservation.
AWS infrastructure is far more energy efficient than the median US enterprise data center. This allows companies to reduce IT operations' environmental impact. Furthermore, AWS aims to achieve 100% renewable energy use by 2025, leading to even more significant reductions in carbon emissions.
The AWS Well-Architected Framework provides guidelines for designing and operating efficient and reliable cloud systems. Companies can further reduce their carbon footprint by employing AWS Graviton, distributing workloads across different availability zones, and optimizing storage strategies with Amazon S3.
The webinar also highlights the importance of optimizing data storage and lifecycle management to reduce carbon emissions and costs. Using S3 APIs, users can seamlessly transition between storage classes, such as standard S3, Glacier retrieval, and deep archive.
The transformation of an organization after migration and optimization consists of three aspects: monitoring electrical output with Kubernetes, moving to event-driven or serverless architectures, and utilizing edge services to move compute and storage closer to customers. Tools like Kepler monitor electrical output, while AWS Lambda reduces its carbon footprint by running only when needed.
Finally, the speakers discussed the benefits of moving data and compute closer to customers using edge services like Cloudfront and Lambda Edge. This approach not only reduces carbon footprint by minimizing network traversal but also improves customer experience by increasing load speed.
As businesses adopt more sustainable practices, it's crucial to measure the baseline and track changes to understand the impact on their overall carbon footprint. Tools like the Kepler tool can help measure the carbon output of workloads, enabling companies to demonstrate the positive impact of their sustainability journey. Regular reporting and sharing of this information within the organization will ensure that sustainability remains a top priority.
Don't miss out on the valuable insights shared in the "Greening the Cloud" webinar! Click the link below to watch the full presentation and learn more about how cloud services can help your business adopt sustainable practices and contribute to a greener future.