Carbon Awareness Principle

Question 1

How can you ensure investment flows towards low-carbon emitting plants?

Answer 1

Using electricity when the carbon intensity is low.

Question 2

What is happening globally to electricity grids?

Answer 2

They are changing from primarily burning fossil fuels to sourcing energy from lower carbon sources like wind and solar.

Question 3

What is the primary driver for the transition to lower carbon sources?

Answer 3

Economic factors, as renewables are cheaper and getting more affordable over time.

Question 4

How can renewable plants be made more profitable?

Answer 4

By using more electricity when it’s coming from lower-carbon sources like renewables.

Question 5

When is carbon intensity lower?

Answer 5

When more energy comes from lower-carbon sources.

Question 6

What does being carbon aware mean in terms of demand?

Answer 6

Increasing or decreasing your demand in response to shifts in carbon intensity.

Question 7

How much can carbon reductions be by demand shifting?

Answer 7

45% to 99% depending on the number of renewables powering the grid.

Question 8

What is spatial shifting?

Answer 8

Moving your computation to another physical location where the current carbon intensity is lower.

Question 9

What is temporal shifting?

Answer 9

Shifting computation to another time when the carbon intensity is lower.

Question 10

What example did Google set for carbon awareness?

Answer 10

Google launched a project to make some of the cloud workloads carbon aware by predicting tomorrow’s carbon intensity and shaping workloads accordingly.

Question 11

What initiative did Microsoft announce for carbon awareness?

Answer 11

Making Windows 11 more sustainable by running updates when the carbon intensity is lower.

Question 12

What is demand shifting?

Answer 12

The strategy of moving computation to regions or times when the carbon intensity is lowest.

Question 13

What is demand shaping?

Answer 13

Shaping computation to match the existing supply rather than moving demand to a different region or time.

Question 14

What should you do if carbon intensity is low?

Answer 14

Increase the demand; do more in your applications.

Question 15

What should you do if carbon intensity is high?

Answer 15

Decrease demand; do less in your applications.

Question 16

What is an example of demand shifting in everyday appliances?

Answer 16

Eco modes in cars or washing machines that consume fewer resources by sacrificing some performance.

Question 17

What is an example of demand shaping in software applications?

Answer 17

Video conferencing software that adjusts streaming quality automatically.

Question 18

What broader concept is demand shaping related to?

Answer 18

Reducing consumption and becoming more efficient with resources.

Question 19

What should green software practitioners consider when carbon intensity is high?

Answer 19

Canceling a process instead of demand shifting to reduce the demands of applications and user expectations.

Question 20

What does carbon awareness mean in terms of energy consumption?

Answer 20

Understanding that the energy you consume does not always have the same impact in terms of carbon intensity.

Question 21

When does carbon intensity vary?

Answer 21

Depending on the time and place it is consumed.

Question 22

What happens when you consume energy when carbon intensity is low?

Answer 22

It increases the demand for renewable energy sources and the percentage of renewable energy in the supply.