IBM launched a new tool to help enterprises track greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across cloud services and advance their sustainability performance throughout their hybrid, multicloud journeys. Now generally available, the IBM Cloud Carbon Calculator – an AI-informed dashboard – can help clients access emissions data across a variety of IBM Cloud workloads such as AI, high performance computing (HPC) and financial services.
Across industries, enterprises are embracing modernisation by leveraging hybrid cloud and AI to digitally transform with resiliency, performance, security, and compliance at the forefront, all while remaining focused on delivering value and driving more sustainable business practices.
To help clients respond to these challenges, the IBM Cloud Carbon Calculator is designed to quickly spot patterns, anomalies and outliers in data that are potentially associated with higher GHG emissions. Based on technology from IBM Research and through a collaboration with Intel, the tool uses machine learning and advanced algorithms to help organisations uncover emissions hot spots in their IT workload and provide them with the insights to inform their emissions mitigation strategy. (see note )
“As African organisations race to optimise workloads and achieve energy-savings benefits through hybrid, multicloud and AI deployment, it is expedient that we provide access to standards-based greenhouse gas emissions data that will enable them to manage their cloud carbon footprint. This is especially important in Africa as we remain vulnerable to climate change and climate variability,” said Julia Carvalho, General Manager of IBM Africa Growth Markets. “As such, we are proud to launch the IBM Cloud Carbon Calculator, an AI-informed dashboard designed to help clients access the data they need to advance their sustainability goals while empowering them to conduct further analysis.”
The IBM Cloud Carbon Calculator is designed to give clients access to standards-based GHG emissions data for IBM Cloud workloads with just a few clicks. Its capabilities include:
• Track emissions across various workloads down to the cloud service level for enterprise accounts: By helping deliver access to detailed GHG emissions data for their workloads on IBM Cloud, the tool is designed for clients to visualise and track GHG emissions associated with individual cloud services and locations, in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Clients can use filters to see emissions profiles across locations and a variety of services – starting with commonly used classic and cloud native infrastructure services, with more service coverage planned quarterly.
• Identify GHG emissions hot-spots and opportunities for improvement: Clients can analyse emissions by month, quarter and year, enabling enterprises to gain a regular view of progress towards targets. Having access to emissions trends and patterns helps to uncover anomalies and hotspots, and clients can use the insights they gained to adjust their strategies in near real time to optimize workloads across locations and ultimately help reduce emissions.
• Leverage data for GHG emission reports: Clients can access the output and audit trails generated by the IBM Cloud Carbon Calculator to help meet their reporting needs. Additionally, enterprises can integrate their emissions data into the IBM only and ESG suite3, which can help enhance their ability to conduct further analysis and reporting.
Note: [1] Output provided by the Calculator is provided “as-is” for informational purposes only and is based on information regarding the Cloud Services provisioned by Client in Client’s IBM Cloud Account. Output is provided in a format according to GHG protocol standards. Client is responsible for confirming accuracy of any Calculator output for purposes of Client’s compliance with any applicable regulatory obligations or for any other purpose.
