As part of our new series on Green Computing, we are pleased to announce the Introduction to Green Computing guide, which offers a practical starting point for anyone who wants to understand the environmental impact of computing and AI-assisted coding practices.
Computational workflows, data use and generative AI tools are increasingly embedded in research, education, software development and policy. However, the environmental impacts of these practices are often difficult to see, particularly when energy use, hardware costs, data centre infrastructure and resource consumption are hidden from the end user.
This guide introduces current definitions of green computing and explains why they matter in relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 13: Climate Action and Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. It also provides initial pointers to calculators and resources that can help readers begin estimating the environmental impact of their own computational workflows.
The guide is designed for researchers, digital Research Technical Professionals, Research Software Engineers, students, instructors, policymakers, open-source contributors and anyone interested in understanding the need for more environmentally sustainable computing practices.
After reading the guide, readers should be able to explain the main environmental impacts of computational workflows and generative AI use, understand the basics of measuring these impacts, and try out an estimation tool or calculator to assess their current practices.
Rather than presenting green computing as an all-or-nothing challenge, the guide focuses on practical first steps: measuring current impact, reflecting on existing workflows, and making more informed decisions about software, data and computing use. Strategies for mitigation will be explored in subsequent chapters.