IJEP 43(6): 546-551 : Vol. 43 Issue. 6 (June 2023)
Nidhi Buch* and Chandrika Tewatia Raj
Gujarat National Law University, Gujarat – 382 421, India
Abstract
In the contemporaneous age of data mining, internet of things and infinite capacities of data storage, cloud computing technology has made everything possible. Cloud has revolutionized the digital world by removing compliance on devices, like phones and computers and shifting the focus to these remote data centers. The rise in the use of cloud computing has also led to a rise in the demand for these data centers and consequently, increasing concerns about the environmental impact of cloud computing. The environmental concerns are generally overlooked in comparison to the technological, financial and economic benefits of the cloud. Hence, the concerns as well as the advantages of the exponential growth in cloud computing technologies need to be dissected and addressed for the future. The researcher would explain the concept of cloud computing and illuminate the environmental footprint of the cloud computing world in this paper, focusing on the benefits and risks of the emerging technology. Finally, the researcher would suggest the best cloud computing sustainability opportunities and mitigate the future hazards of this rising giant. This dilemma of balancing environment sustainability with technological advancement, ease of use and profitability would be answered by the researcher by examining the positive as well as adverse impacts of the cloud on the environment.
Keywords
Cloud computing, Environment, Sustainable development, Technology
References
- Kuchta, D.M. 2022. Does cloud computing help or harm the environment? Treehugger. Available at: https://www.tree hugger.com/does-cloud-computing-help-or-harm-the-environment-51879537.
- Chai, W. 2022. What is cloud computing? Everything you need to know. TechTarget. Available at: https://www.techtarget.com/search cloud computing/definition/cloud-computing.
- Statista. 2014. Consumer cloud computing users worldwide. Statista Research Department and Juniper Research 2018. Available at: https://www. statista.com/statistics/321215/global-consumer-cloud-computing-users/.
- Monserrate, S.G. 2022. The cloud is material : On the environmental impacts of computation and data storage. MIT case studies in social and ethical responsibilities of computing, MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. DOI: 10.21428/2c646de5.031 d4553.
- Amoore, L. 2018. Cloud geographies : Computing, data, sovereignty. Progress Human Geogr., 42(1):4-24.
- Antoine. 2021. The environmental impact of cloud computing – Overview of leading providers’ strategies. Holori.
- Masanet, E., et al. 2013. The energy efficiency potential of cloud-based software : A U.S. case study. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Sustainable Energy Systems Group, Berkeley.
- Anastasia. 2018. Cloud storage environmental impact. Available at: https://spinbackup.com/blog/cloud-storage-environmental-impact/.
- Morgan, J. 5 reasons why the cloud is environmentally friendly. Mission Cloud. Available at: https://www. missioncloud.com/blog/5-reasons-why-the cloud-is-environmentally-friendly.
- NexChange. 2017. Growth in the cloud : The corporation as incubator. Available at: https://impact.com-asia.com/perspectives/technology-innovation/growth-cloud-corporation-incubator.
- Idexcel Technologies. 2018. Cloud computing: Propagating environmental friendly infrastructure. Available at: https://www.idexcel.com/blog/tag/cloud-computing-environmental-impact.
- Vaishnavi. 2021. The impact of cloud technology on the environment. Zoho Work drive. Available at: https://www.zoho.com/workdrive/digest/Impact-of-cloud-tech-on-the-environment.html.
- Foster, P. 2011. Cloud computing- A green opportunity or climate change risk? Low carbon ICT, The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/cloud-computing-climatechan-ge.
- Welle, D. 2019. Is Netflix bad for the environment? How streaming video contributes to climate change. EcoWatch. Available at: https://www. ecowatch. com/interflix-bad-for-environment-2639174138. html .
- Andrae, A.S.G. and T. Edler. 2015. On global electricity usage of communication technology : Trends to 2030. Challenges. 6(1): 117-157.
- Zhang, X., et al. 2017. Cooling energy consumption investigation of data centre IT room with vertical placed server. Energy Procedia. 105:2047-2052.
- Monserrate, S.G. 2022. The staggering ecological impacts of computation and the cloud. MIT case studies in social and ethical responsibilities of computing, MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. Available at: https://thereader.mitpres s.nit.edu/the-staggering-ecological-impact-of-computation-and-the-cloud/.
- Nathaniel, L., D. Anderson and J. Orwig. 2018. Noise pollution is a bigger threat to your health than you may think and Americans aren’t taking it seriously. Yahoo. Available at:https://www.busines-sinsider.in/noise-pollution-is-a-higher-threat-to-your-health-than-you-may-think-and-americans-arent-taking-it-seriously/articleshow/6266726.cms.
- Server Room Environments. How to dispose of e-waste in the data centre industry. Available at: https://www.server room environments.co.uk/blog/how-to-dispose-of-datacentre-ewaste.
- Nishpishleh. 2019. Environmental impact of cloud computing. Available at:https://medium.com/@nishleh/ environmental-impact-of-cloud-computing-83dd1b230893.
- Amazon Press. 2020. Amazon becomes world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy, advancing its climate pledge commitment to be net-zero carbon by 2040. Available at : https://press. aboutamazon.com/news-releases/corporate-purchaser-renewable.
- Burton, G. 2021. Microsoft: This is how we’re going to get to net-zero by 2030 – and then take back all the carbon we’ve ever emitted. Data Center Dynamics. Available at : https://www.datacenterdy-namics. com/en/marketwatch/microsoft-this-is-how-were-going-to-get-to-net-zero-by-2030-and-then-take-back-all-the-carbon-weve-ever-emitted/ .
- White, M. 2019. Is cloud computing bad for the environment. TB Tech. Available at : https://tbtech.co/ cloud/is-cloud-computing-bad-for-the-environment/.