Data Centres: How OVHcloud is Advancing Green Cloud

OVHcloud has launched its Environmental Impact Tracker, building on the carbon calculator the company rolled out in 2023.

With more than 25 years of experience in the realm of sustainable computing, OVHcloud’s latest tracker development now encompasses a wider range of cloud landscapes, broadening its reach towards a multi-criteria sustainability evaluation.

Positioned as an innovative tool for environmental assessment, the OVHcloud Environmental Impact Tracker allows enterprises to gauge and monitor the carbon emissions tied to their cloud consumption.

The company says it is considered to be the most comprehensive tool on the market.

Transparent sustainability data

The Environmental Impact Tracker efficiently gauges the carbon footprint for infrastructures linked to Baremetal, Hosted Private Cloud and Public Cloud Compute solutions.

Plans are set to extend this capability to Public Cloud Storage and Web Hosting categories soon.

OVHcloud says its methodology for calculating carbon emissions has been enhanced since the 2023 version of the tool to take into account the complexity and variety of its products – hoping to enable a very high level of accuracy and performance.

Designed to impart transparent and comprehensive data, the tracker spans emissions from Scopes 1, 2 and 3 across the full lifecycle, from the manufacturing phase through to the operational stage of infrastructure.

OVHcloud promises a holistic lifecycle assessment, scrutinising both components and the lifecycle emissions associated with cloud services.

“In a world where every action counts, accurately and transparently assessing your environmental footprint is no longer an option – it’s a responsibility,” says Grégory Lebourg, Global Environmental Director at OVHcloud. 

“As a committed player, we support our customers in understanding and controlling their impact. That’s why we’re continually improving our Environmental Impact Tracker, a true market benchmark, recognised for its methodological rigour and completeness. 

The future of cloud computing

For more than two decades, OVHcloud has championed sustainable cloud computing, a testament reflected in the modern enhancements made to its tracker tool.

New capabilities now enable users to consider emissions during the usage phase from two perspectives: the average emission outputs of countries involved and the electricity suppliers OVHcloud collaborates with, plus the reconditioning efforts during server assembly.

Such advancements hope to give customers a deeper insight into the environmental footprint of their cloud infrastructure, fostering reinforced sustainable business methods.

Moving forward, OVHcloud plans to expand its tool's scope to cover more than just carbon emissions, turning attention to water usage, abiotic resource consumption and land-use impacts.

This form of environmental mapping could be vital for sectors like data centres, which are being met with increased energy and water demands given the expanding needs of AI and cloud-based tasks.

Grégory adds: “We are determined to pursue our commitments to contribute to a more sustainable and responsible cloud industry.”