Global content delivery network (CDN) provider Cloudflare will help power an Internet with zero carbon emissions, so it says. Now, not only will one of the world’s largest and most interconnected networks operate on 100 percent renewable energy, but Cloudflare will also remove all historical carbon its global network has emitted since its founding by 2025.
Today, Cloudflare has announced the availability of sustainable edge computing services and energy-saving capabilities to assist companies of all sizes in incorporating sustainability into their own apps, websites, and networks.
“Internet usage has skyrocketed in the last couple of years, growing over 80 percent on our network, and is showing no signs of slowing down. For every search you do, online order you make, and video call you join, there is an environmental impact from the physical data centers, servers, and other physical infrastructure the Internet relies on,” said Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare. “We want to give the Internet a clean slate to help build toward a future where it’s easy for anyone to create, build, and run their applications on green energy while remaining secure, fast, and reliable.”
Carbon Impact Report, Green Certification
Businesses can now use Green Compute on Cloudflare Workers to automatically route traffic across data centers powered by renewable energy. With a Carbon Impact Report, clients can understand and quantify their unique footprints and approximate savings from Cloudflare’s network in relation to Internet norms.
Cloudflare’s millions of clients can easily track and see their estimated carbon savings from using Cloudflare services in comparison to Internet averages for the same volumes. Customers may use the Carbon Impact Report to get personalized statistics on their unique footprints on Cloudflare’s network to measure, report on, and establish sustainability objectives, as well as receive advice on how to decrease their carbon footprint.
Additionally, companies who use Cloudflare Pages will automatically run on renewable energy and get a green certification from The Green Web Foundation, which will be displayed as a validated badge.
“Cloudflare’s recent climate disclosures and commitments are encouraging, especially given how much traffic flows through their network. Every provider should be at least this transparent when it comes to accounting for the environmental impact of their services,” said Chris Adams, co-director of The Green Web Foundation. “We see a growing number of users relying on CDNs to host their sites, and they are often confused when their sites no longer show as green, because they’re not using a green CDN. It’s good to see another more sustainable option available to users, and one that is independently verified.”
Moreover, Cloudflare will notify search engines when content on a page changes, avoiding needless crawls and energy consumption. All Cloudflare clients will be able to use this feature in the future to help offer fresher indexes while wasting less resources from search engines.
Arm Neoverse
By using Arm Neoverse-based processors in its edge servers, Cloudflare has achieved a 50 percent increase in requests per watt, so the company stated.
“The industry is facing a massive opportunity to accommodate the increasing demand on cloud computing in a sustainable way,” said Chris Bergey, senior vice president and general manager, Infrastructure Line of Business, Arm. “Energy efficiency is part of Arm’s DNA, and we are pleased to see Cloudflare leverage the performance-per-watt benefits of Neoverse as they continue to build on and prioritize the overall efficiencies of its vast global network.”
