An Environmental Chargeback for Data Center and Cloud Computing Consumers

Government, business, and the general public increasingly agree that the polluter should pay. Carbon dioxide and environmental damage are considered viable chargeable commodities. The net effect of this for data center and cloud computing operators is that they should look to “chargeback” the environmental impacts of their services to the consuming end-users. An environmental chargeback model can have a positive effect on environmental impacts by linking consumers to the indirect impacts of their usage, facilitating clearer understanding of the impact of their actions. In this paper we motivate the need for environmental chargeback mechanisms. The environmental chargeback model is described including requirements, methodology for definition, and environmental impact allocation strategies. The paper details a proof-of-concept within an operational data center together with discussion on experiences gained and future research directions.