The Jevons Paradox In Cloud Computing: A Thermodynamics Perspective

Abstract

How do we explain the simultaneous growth in energy efficiency of cloud computing and its energy consumption? The Jevons paradox provides one perspective of this phenomenon. However, it is not clear or obvious \emph{why} the Jevons paradox exists, and \emph{when} is it applicable. To answer these questions, we seek inspiration from thermodynamics, and model the cloud as a thermodynamic system. We find that system growth, due to the revenue generation of cloud platforms, is a key driver behind energy consumption. This thermodynamic model provides energy consumption insights into modern hyperscale clouds, and we validate it using data from Meta and Google. Our investigation points to the necessity of future work in new and meaningful efficiency metrics, implications for future applications and edge clouds, and the need for studying system-wide energy and sustainability.