This tool can help companies track digital carbon footprint of stored data
- July 4, 2023
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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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.