These tools and metrics are designed to help AI actors develop and use trustworthy AI systems and applications that respect human rights and are fair, transparent, explainable, robust, secure and safe.
Green Algorithms Calculator
Green Algorithms Calculator is a free, open-access online tool from the Green Algorithms Initiative of the Cambridge Sustainable Computing Lab at the University of Cambridge. It estimates the energy use and carbon footprint of any computational task, including AI model training and inference, data analysis and high-performance computing (HPC) jobs. Its aim is to help researchers, research software engineers and organisations understand the environmental impact of their computing and choose more sustainable practices. The methodology is set out in the peer-reviewed article “Green Algorithms: Quantifying the Carbon Footprint of Computation” (Advanced Science, 2021).
Users describe a computation through a web interface. They enter the run time, the type and number of processor cores or graphics processing units (GPUs), the memory available, and the processor usage factor. They also enter the computing platform (such as a personal computer, local server or cloud provider) and the location. The calculator combines these inputs with reference data on hardware power draw (thermal design power), data-centre power usage effectiveness and the carbon intensity of electricity in each country or region. From these it estimates the energy needed and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions in carbon dioxide equivalent.
Results are also translated into relatable equivalents, such as tree-months of carbon sequestration or distance driven by car. A multiplicative factor accounts for repeated runs, for example parameter tuning or trial and error. Version 3.0 added a dedicated AI view, and energy needs can be compared independently of location. The calculator is built with Plotly Dash in Python, and its reference data is maintained in a separate, openly available repository.
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- carbon reporting
Github stars:
- 124
Github forks:
- 33
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