Ditching private datacentres and moving to AWS cloud could reduce energy use by almost 80 per cent, report claims

451 Research claims that cloud servers are roughly three times more energy efficient and AWS datacentres are up to five times more energy efficient

Businesses in Europe can reduce energy use by nearly 80 per cent when they run their applications on the AWS Cloud instead of operating their own datacentres, research commissioned by AWS has found.

The research, carried out by 451 Research, found that migrating compute workloads to AWS across Europe could decrease greenhouse gas emissions equal to the footprint of millions of households.

It also claims that a 1-megawatt corporate datacentre switching its applications to the cloud could reduce emissions by over a thousand metric tons of carbon dioxide per year - the equivalent to removing over 500 cars from the roads.

"We were struck by how much opportunity there is for European businesses to increase energy efficiency and reduce emissions by looking at their IT infrastructure," Kelly Morgan, research director, datacentre infrastructure & services at 451 Research, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence.

"If you think of the electricity consumed and emissions produced by tens of thousands of companies across Europe operating their own datacentres, this is an area that appears to be overlooked.

"According to our analysis, moving workloads to the AWS Cloud could dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of most organisations' IT operations."

The study surveyed senior stakeholders at over 300 companies using their own datacentres across a broad range of industries and states that companies could further reduce carbon emissions from an average workload by up to 96 per cent once AWS meets its goal to be powered by 100 per cent renewable energy by the year 2025.

Cloud servers are roughly three times more energy efficient, and AWS datacentres are up to five times more energy efficient, than the computing resources of the average European company, 451 Research also claims.

"This report shows the great potential that cloud offers businesses in Europe to improve energy efficiency while cutting costs and carbon emissions at the same time," said Chris Wellise, director of sustainability at AWS.

"AWS is continuously working on ways to increase the energy efficiency of facilities and equipment, as well as innovating the design and manufacture of servers, storage, and networking equipment to reduce resource use and limit waste."