Feb 17, 2022 - Energy & Environment

Google focuses on idle Cloud projects to reduce carbon emissions

Illustration of the google search bar with the words CO2 in place of their logo

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Google will help its Cloud users save energy and reduce emissions by providing new tools to let them manage energy use from their idle projects.

Driving the news: Google on Wednesday introduced the Carbon Sense suite. It's a collection of features that aims to help companies quantify and report their emissions, as well as reduce them.

Zoom in: The company says its "Active Assist" feature will allow customers to spot their energy-intensive idle projects and help manage them better to reduce their carbon footprint.

  • The recommendations given by the feature estimate the impact of removing an idle project in kilograms of CO2 reduced per month.
  • For example, users can choose cleaner regions to run their data-hungry projects.

“It can be difficult for businesses to accurately understand, reduce, and report on carbon emissions,” said Google Sustainability lead Chris Talbott, in a statement.

Flashback: Google is working to meet a 2030 goal for running its data center operations on carbon-free energy 24/7.

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