Carbon intensity
Carbon intensity is the amount of greenhouse-gas emissions associated with producing a unit of energy or electricity.
Introduction to Generative AI, Second Edition
Carbon intensity is the amount of greenhouse-gas emission associated with a unit of energy or activity, determined in part by the energy source.
- How it is used
- Uses carbon intensity to compare the environmental effects of computing powered by different electricity grids.
- How deep it goes
- Explains grid effects through a model comparison but stops short of standardized accounting methods or detailed measurement procedures.
- Examples
- Compares estimated training emissions for BLOOM and GPT-3 across grids with different energy sources.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate computing emissions comparisons by considering both energy consumption and the carbon intensity of the supplying grid.
Read how Introduction to Generative AI, Second Edition explains carbon intensity →
The Art of Code
The amount of carbon dioxide emissions associated with producing a unit of electricity in a particular region and time period.
- How it is used
- Guides workload scheduling and deployment toward periods and regions with lower-emission electricity.
- How deep it goes
- Explains time and location shifting with a forecast-based report example, but stops short of specifying implementation details beyond public APIs.
- Examples
- Uses WattTime forecasts, daily report processing, Windows 11 updates, and multi-region data-center placement.
- What you can do after
- Apply it via carbon-intensity APIs to schedule or locate energy-intensive workloads more efficiently.
The AI Pocket Book
The amount of carbon dioxide emitted per unit of electricity consumed, used here to compare environmental impact.
- How it is used
- Helps compare the environmental impact of AI electricity use and emissions.
- How deep it goes
- Defines the metric and illustrates it with converted examples, but does not develop a formal emissions methodology.
- Examples
- Uses text generation, image generation, household electricity, and petrol-car equivalents.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate environmental impact across electricity use and emissions estimates.
Related concepts
- carbon-aware patternused by · The carbon-aware pattern is a green design pattern that schedules computation according to electricity carbon intensity and adjusts its location or scale accordingly.
- data centerconfigures · A data center is a physical facility housing computing, storage, networking, and supporting infrastructure for operating information systems and digital services.
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