Enabling Environmentally Sustainable Computational Science through foundational initiatives and the Green Algorithms tools

Computing is an essential component of modern scientific research and it comes with significant, but not well-understood, environmental impacts.

Besides, there is a lack of open access tools and standardised methodologies for the quantification and reporting of the environmental impacts of scientific computing.

This project brings environmental sustainability to the core of computational research through tools development and broader foundational activities.

The main aims are: (1) to improve the widely used Green Algorithms online calculator by both enriching the information it provides and developing tailored use cases, (2) to empirically validate and improve foundational methodology of power usage estimation, (3) to develop a production-ready Green Algorithms HPC Dashboard enabling scalable open-source carbon footprint monitoring from individual to institutional level, (4) to run an international multi-centre trial to quantify the effectiveness of carbon reporting tools in reducing environmental impacts, (5) to build a community around Environmentally Sustainable Computational Science through a community of practice, a yearly conference and freely available online training material.

Our proposal brings together leading experts in sustainable science to tackle critical unmet needs in enhancing and empirically validating existing tools, generating evidence on the role of HPC monitoring tools, and boosting community engagement around GREENER computing.