Carbon Awareness Principle Flashcards
How can you ensure investment flows towards low-carbon emitting plants?
Using electricity when the carbon intensity is low.
What is happening globally to electricity grids?
They are changing from primarily burning fossil fuels to sourcing energy from lower carbon sources like wind and solar.
What is the primary driver for the transition to lower carbon sources?
Economic factors, as renewables are cheaper and getting more affordable over time.
How can renewable plants be made more profitable?
By using more electricity when it’s coming from lower-carbon sources like renewables.
When is carbon intensity lower?
When more energy comes from lower-carbon sources.
What does being carbon aware mean in terms of demand?
Increasing or decreasing your demand in response to shifts in carbon intensity.
How much can carbon reductions be by demand shifting?
45% to 99% depending on the number of renewables powering the grid.
What is spatial shifting?
Moving your computation to another physical location where the current carbon intensity is lower.
What is temporal shifting?
Shifting computation to another time when the carbon intensity is lower.
What example did Google set for carbon awareness?
Google launched a project to make some of the cloud workloads carbon aware by predicting tomorrow’s carbon intensity and shaping workloads accordingly.
What initiative did Microsoft announce for carbon awareness?
Making Windows 11 more sustainable by running updates when the carbon intensity is lower.
What is demand shifting?
The strategy of moving computation to regions or times when the carbon intensity is lowest.
What is demand shaping?
Shaping computation to match the existing supply rather than moving demand to a different region or time.
What should you do if carbon intensity is low?
Increase the demand; do more in your applications.
What should you do if carbon intensity is high?
Decrease demand; do less in your applications.
What is an example of demand shifting in everyday appliances?
Eco modes in cars or washing machines that consume fewer resources by sacrificing some performance.
What is an example of demand shaping in software applications?
Video conferencing software that adjusts streaming quality automatically.
What broader concept is demand shaping related to?
Reducing consumption and becoming more efficient with resources.
What should green software practitioners consider when carbon intensity is high?
Canceling a process instead of demand shifting to reduce the demands of applications and user expectations.
What does carbon awareness mean in terms of energy consumption?
Understanding that the energy you consume does not always have the same impact in terms of carbon intensity.
When does carbon intensity vary?
Depending on the time and place it is consumed.
What happens when you consume energy when carbon intensity is low?
It increases the demand for renewable energy sources and the percentage of renewable energy in the supply.
