Digital services are increasing, leading to higher energy consumption. CSC, the national research and education network (NREN) of Finland, has created a tool calculating the carbon dioxide emissions related to digital services. Thereby, sustainable choices are enabled.
The tool was first developed for digital preservation services. Many countries – including Finland – see a trend of preserving still more cultural heritage and research data for future generations in digital form.
“There’s no point in preserving cultural heritage for the next generation if that generation doesn’t have the conditions to live on this planet,” says Mikko Tiainen, Development Manager at CSC, leading carbon footprint modelling for digital preservation services.
Device manufacturing contributes the most
CSC’s model combines data on three aspects. Emissions from the raw materials used in IT device manufacturing, energy consumed during device production, and the emissions generated during data services operation.
The results make it possible to estimate the carbon footprint of a single server as well as the entire storage infrastructure.
One key finding is that hardware manufacturing has a much greater impact than usage if the electricity used for the service comes from renewable sources. CSC uses only certified renewable electricity.
“More than 70 percent of digital preservation’s carbon emissions come from device manufacturing, and over 85 percent of that is from producing spinning hard drives. Operational emissions in Finland are very low because our electricity production is so clean,” explains Tiainen.
Extending the lifespan of equipment
CSC has taken its own medicine, so to speak. The findings guide decisions in its procurement of equipment and in efforts to extend the lifespan of hardware.
“Our goal is to extend the lifecycle of our storage hardware to seven years or even longer. Extending the lifecycle spreads the manufacturing emissions over several years, reducing the annual footprint,” says Tiainen.
CSC extends lifecycles by negotiating as long-term support contracts as possible with vendors. In addition, decommissioned equipment from other CSC operations is reused as spare parts.
Still, CSC, just like many other organizations, also faces a growing demand for storage capacity.
“At some point, it simply becomes much more carbon-efficient to replace the entire storage infrastructure with newer technology. It’s always a balancing act between increasing storage density and operational emissions,” says Tiainen.
Openly accessible guide on the way
CSC is part of the international Digital Preservation Coalition, which is preparing the publication of a guide on calculating the carbon footprint of digital preservation based on the CSC model. The guide will be openly available.
While the model was developed for the field of digital preservation, it is also relevant to other digital services.
“Emission calculation is not just about reporting – it’s an essential part of strategic development, as the digital preservation services example show,” says Maari Alanko, Development Manager, responsible for sustainable development at CSC.
Source: the article “Finland leads the way in calculating the carbon footprint of digital preservation” at the CSC website.
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