Evaluating Total Environmental Impact for a Computing Infrastructure

Abstract

In this paper we outline the results of a project to evaluate the total climate/carbon impact of a digital research infrastructure for a defined snapshot period. We outline the carbon model used to calculate the impact and the data collected to quantify that impact for a defined set of resources. We discuss the variation in potential impact across both the active and embodied carbon for computing hardware and produce a range of estimates on the amount of carbon equivalent climate impact for the snapshot period.