An Overview of the Tailpipe Methodology

Tailpipe calculates the kilograms of CO₂e produced from the organization’s use of cloud computing using the following formula: 

Total Emissions = Embodied Emissions + Operational Emissions

Embodied emissions are calculated as:

(((CPU + RAM + SSD + HDD + Motherboard + Power Supply Units + Assembly + Enclosure + Network Storage + Switches) * Disposal) * Time Share * Resource Share)

Operational emissions are calculated as:

((((Computing Infrastructure+ Network Storage + Intra-Region Data Transfer + Intra-Region Non-Compute Networking) * PUE) + (Inter-Region Data Transfer + External Data Transfer + Inter-Region Non-Compute Networking + External Non-Compute Networking)) * Carbon Intensity * Power Transmission Losses)   

Where: 

• • Computing Infrastructure= (Processors + Accelerators + Memory + Onboard Storage + Motherboard + Network Interface Cards) * Instance Power Supply Efficiency Factor
  • Network Storage = ((Power Draw of Provider Network Storage * GB of Network Storage) * Hours of Utilization) * Network Storage Power Supply Efficiency Factor

For more detail, view Tailpipe’s worked examples, our Easy Read methodology, or explore the full methodology breakdown using the sidebar.

Operational Emissions Worked Example 

Embodied Emissions Worked Example 

Tailpipe’s Methodology: Easy Read