“There is a growing desire among Indian companies to lower their carbon footprint,” says Jenna Leiner, worldwide head of ESG at Amazon.
According to a recent analysis, there is a 98% reduction in carbon emissions when compute-intensive applications are hosted on AWS data centers. Jenna Leiner from AWS describes how Indian businesses are making sustainability a priority.
Sustainability is becoming a more important consideration for Indian customers when it comes to cloud computing, according to Jenna Leiner, Global Head of Environment Social Governance (ESG) and External Engagement at AWS. The industry leader in cloud computing, together with Accenture, recently published a report outlining how switching to cloud computing can significantly lower carbon emissions.
As the use of artificial intelligence (AI) grows, there is increasing debate over the potential environmental effects of the enormous processing power needed to run these systems. One of the biggest cloud service providers, Amazon, has been assisting businesses all around the world in lowering the carbon footprint of their AI and other digital workloads.
Leiner talked about how AWS is attempting to make cloud computing more sustainable, particularly in the Indian market. During the discussion, the AWS executive emphasized that Indian businesses may eliminate up to 98% of their workload’s carbon footprint by switching from their on-premise data center to AWS cloud architecture. She said that when these workloads are optimized on AWS with the use of AWS’s proprietary silicon chips, this can reach up to 99%.
Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management
Indian enterprises adopting cloud computing
To put it simply, on-premise software is locally hosted and installed on a business’s hardware infrastructure. Cloud software, on the other hand, is controlled and kept on the server of the provider and is accessible via a web browser or other digital interface.
Leiner responded, “There is a tremendous opportunity for Indian organizations to reduce their IT-related carbon footprint by simply migrating to AWS and then also working with us to optimise AWS to make an even bigger impact,” when questioned about the ability of Indian businesses to migrate from on-premise data centres to the cloud.
According to Leiner, the figures originate from a recent analysis that compared AI workloads operating on the AWS cloud to those operating in India’s on-premise infrastructures. Reductions may sound like a huge step forward, but the ESG chief clarified that the real outcomes could differ based on a number of variables, including the particular configuration of the on-premise centers being migrated from and the degree to which these workloads have been optimized on AWS.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused a sharp increase in the use of cloud computing. And the degree of data protection and the flexibility it provides were the primary causes of this. Notwithstanding the benefits of cloud computing, many organizations remain apprehensive to make the switch. In response to a question about what guidance she would offer these organizations, Leiner emphasized the necessity of moving swiftly given the urgency of tackling climate change. She continued by saying that it is difficult for individual businesses to equal the scaled-up efficiency that AWS can get.
“It is challenging to keep up with AWS’s pace in terms of ensuring that your on-premise environment is as fully utilized as possible, thereby decreasing that idle capacity,” Leiner said. She continued, “It is difficult to accomplish and difficult to accommodate future demand growth and unpredictable demand spikes.”
By 2040, AWS wants its operations to have net zero carbon emissions. The corporation is concentrating on three things in order to move towards this ambitious goal: increasing energy efficiency, switching to renewable energy, and drastically lowering the amount of carbon that is embedded in its infrastructure.
Effects on companies in India
Leiner stated that AWS has made investments in 50 solar and wind projects totaling more than 1.1 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity in India. She acknowledged that this is just the beginning, but she applauded the Indian government’s initiatives for opening the door for businesses to use renewable energy more quickly.
When asked which Indian businesses are benefiting from these technologies, Leiner mentioned IBS Software, a SaaS provider to the travel industry, which claimed to have reduced carbon emissions per instance hour by 40% after implementing AWS Graviton processors. Similarly, the carbon emissions per transaction on the digital payments network Paytm are expected to have decreased by up to 70%.
Leiner stated that artificial intelligence is still in its infancy, despite the mounting concerns about the enormous energy requirements of large-scale AI systems. She did, however, note that a large number of AWS clients are actively attempting to strike a balance between the potential of AI and significant sustainability goals. She also cited Amazon’s most recent sustainability report, which demonstrated that the company is successfully separating emissions growth from business growth with a 3% reduction in absolute carbon emissions and a 13% fall in carbon intensity.
Suggestions for Indian businesses
When asked what guidance she would provide Indian businesses wishing to use cloud computing to lessen their carbon impact, Leiner gave three main points. “First, evaluate the state of the IT environments and look for ways to move workloads from on-premises to the cloud, even if it’s merely a ‘lift and shift’ at first. Secondly, consistently optimize cloud workloads to minimize waste by utilizing AWS tools and knowledge. Finally, investigate creative methods to leverage cloud technologies like AI and machine learning to further industry and corporate sustainability goals, the speaker advised.
