Summary and Schedule

This lesson introduces environmental sustainability principles in the context of high performance computing (HPC) systems. Understanding the scale of emissions from different sources is critical to being able to make changes to work in a more environmentally sustainable way. This lesson will give you the ability to understand emissions arising from use of HPC system and how to quantify them. We will use practical examples and real data from an existing HPC facility to illustrate the concepts.

We use the UK National Supercomputing Service, ARCHER2 as an example throughout this lesson but the principles and learning should be applicable to any HPC system.

After completing this lesson you should:

• Be able to understand the concept of carbon efficiency and how it relates to energy efficiency - including cases where energy efficiency can be at odds with carbon efficiency
• Know about how HPC systems potentially reduce emissions
• Understand carbon intensity of electricity generation and the implications for carbon aware use of HPC
• Appreciate the embodied emissions associated with HPC hardware and how they impact carbon aware use of HPC
• Be aware of the frameworks used to measure and report on carbon emissions and how the terms used in these frameworks map onto HPC
• Gain practical advice on how you can measure and improve the carbon efficiency of your use of HPC

Callout

This workshop is based on and builds on the material in the Green Software Practitioner course developed by the Green Software Foundation.

Target audience

This lesson is aimed at all stakeholders in HPC use (e.g. researchers, RSEs, funders). No knowledge of environmental sustainability principles is assumed.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this lesson.

	Setup Instructions	Download files required for the lesson
Duration: 00h 00m	1. Introduction	What is green software use and what does it mean for me as a user of HPC? What research activities produce carbon emissions?
Duration: 00h 25m	2. Carbon Efficiency	What is the difference between global warming and climate change? What is the difference between climate and weather? What are greenhouse gases (GHGs)? What does the term carbon equivalence (CO2e) mean? How is climate change monitored and reported?
Duration: 01h 00m	3. Energy Efficiency	What is Carbon Intensity? What are low carbon sources of electricity generation? How do we quantify energy efficiency? What aspects should we consider when looking at energy efficiency of HPC system use?
Duration: 01h 30m	4. Carbon Awareness	How does electricity generation affect GHG emissions? What is carbon instensity of electricity generation and how does it vary geographically and temporally? What techniques can I use to make my use of HPC greener and influence transition to low-carbon electricity generation?
Duration: 02h 05m	5. Hardware Efficiency	What is embodied carbon on HPC systems? How can embodied carbon efficiency be improved on HPC systems? What can I do to improve the embodied carbon efficiency of my use of HPC systems?
Duration: 02h 25m	6. Measurement	How are emissions measured and classified under the GHG protocol? How do I use the GHG protocol to estimate emissions from my use of HPC?
Duration: 03h 25m	7. Reducing Emissions	What methodologies are available to reduce carbon emissions and how do they differ? What is the difference between “net zero” and “carbon neutral” climate commitments? How can I reduce the emissions from my use of HPC systems?
Duration: 04h 10m	8. Next Steps	What other resources are available to help me be more environmentally sustainable?
Duration: 04h 20m	Finish

The actual schedule may vary slightly depending on the topics and exercises chosen by the instructor.

TODO