SuperPoPs eco-rating
Methodology for estimating the carbon footprint of SuperPoPs
To assess the carbon footprint of SuperPoPs, all network equipment and servers as well as the hosting that comprises it are considered.
For the intrinsic footprint of the equipment, i.e., the footprint corresponding to the manufacturing, transport, and end-of-life of the equipment included in scope 3 according to the GHG Protocol (Scope 3 Guidance), the emission factor values (in kg CO2e/unit) communicated directly by suppliers are considered.
For servers, these are the specific configurations for each of SuperPoP servers that were requested from the supplier (DELL practices the PAIA approach in their evaluation). The parameters taken into account are: the server model, processors, RAM, and the number, type, and capacity of storage media.
For network equipment such as routers and switches, the same approach is adopted by considering the specific configurations for each modular chassis and comparing them with the data communicated by the supplier Juniper. The components taken into account are: the chassis, the routing-engines (RE), the forwarding cards (SCB), the fan trays, the power supplies, and the linecards (MPC/MIC).
For the usage footprint, i.e., the operational footprint mainly corresponding to the energy used to operate the equipment included in scope 2 according to the GHG Protocol (Scope 2 Guidance), two studies were conducted.
For the first study, the electricity consumed by equipment loaded at 100% is considered (penalization in the absence of actual consumption according to the recommendations of ADEME).
For servers, DELL calculator is used, with the appropriate configurations for each server and introduce the value of this server loaded at 100%. In addition, several tests were conducted in the Orange laboratory to verify the accuracy of the values communicated by the DELL calculator; after verification, these values are considered to be consistent with reality.
For network equipment, the power of the equipment loaded at 100% is used - that is, the “100% load power” communicated by supplier.
For the second study, the electrical power subscribed for each SuperPoP with the companies hosting the equipment is used. The result gives a maximum value in terms of annual electrical consumption and allows to compare the estimated value with the methodology by equipment (study 1).
When the sum of the maximum estimated electrical consumption of all equipment exceeds the annual subscribed power (which should not be possible), the value from study 2 is retained.
Once the annual electrical consumption is estimated, carbon emission factor specific to each country where the different SuperPoPs are located is used (source: International Energy Agency). An additional factor is applied to each SuperPoP, which is the energy efficiency indicator (PUE for Power Usage Effectiveness) used to qualify the energy efficiency of the hosting center. This factor allows to take into account the specific energy losses for each SuperPoP and is requested from each of our hosts. When the PUE is not available, a default value of 1.8 is used for the EU zone and a default value of 2 is used for the rest of the world (on the principle of penalization in the absence of real data according to the recommendations of ADEME).
To obtain the overall footprint of a SuperPoP per year, we consider a 5-year depreciation of the intrinsic footprint of the equipment, which we add to the usage footprint.
Explanation of the display of the eco-rating of SuperPoPs
The eco-rating of SuperPoPs allows you to compare the carbon footprint of the SuperPoPs available for the service ordered. In order to make this comparison, the carbon footprint of SuperPoPs, calculated using the method described above, is divided by the number of vCPUs allocated on each SuperPoP. The values obtained make it possible to compare the environmental impact of SuperPoPs in accordance with ADEME recommendations (the number of vCPUs allocated was chosen rather than the maximum number of vCPUs in order to value the occupancy of SuperPoPs).
Note that in the case of new SuperPoPs (commissioned less than 1 year ago), the number of vCPUs allocated is a target value and not a real one ("design" value) so as not to penalize these new SuperPoPs.
Based on this calculation, the SuperPoP with the lowest relative carbon footprint will have 5 green leaves, the one with the highest relative carbon footprint will have 1 green leaf. The other SuperPoPs are then classified from 1 to 5 green leaves based on their relative carbon footprint. When the carbon footprint of the SuperPoP is not yet known, the green leaves all appear in grey.