This tool can help companies track digital carbon footprint of stored data

Subject :Environment

Section: Climate change

Context:

Scientists have come up with a new tool that can calculate carbon emissions caused by digital data, especially by companies that want to offset their carbon footprint.

Data carbon ladder:

Researchers from Loughborough University, the United Kingdom created and launched the tool named ‘Data carbon ladder’.
A data carbon ladder can help businesses measure the carbon dioxide output of their digital data.
The inclusion of the data CO2 footprint is a crucial factor missing from global decarbonisation policies.
How will it help in measuring the carbon emission?
- By using the tool, believed to be the first of its kind, companies can make data-driven decisions that benefit the environment and save money by reducing the need for carbon offsetting.
- The tool can also help businesses and organisations improve their data projects’ sustainability by reducing their environmental impact and creating a more efficient and sustainable solution.
- It is the first publicly available tool to calculate the data CO2 footprint across the data journey, from the origin of a dataset through to its end use — for example, AI analytics.
- The tool enables organisations to see the environmental impact of data at key stages along the data journey, providing stage-by-stage CO2 output as well as an overall CO2 footprint for new data projects.
- It helps determine the appropriate size of the dataset(s) required, the optimal frequency for updates, the most suitable storage location, and the analytics necessary for projects.

Data and carbon emission:

Data centres are responsible for 2.5 per cent to 3.7 per cent of all human-induced carbon dioxide — more than the aviation industry (2.1 per cent).
By 2025, it is estimated that the global data will surpass 180 zettabytes and the amount of digital data is doubling every two years.
A typical data-driven business employing 100 full-time employees will generate approximately 2,203 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually due to new data.