Making it easier to build sustainable websites
'Carbon Aware Websites' enables developers and open CMS groups to build websites that take into account indicators such as carbon emissions, in order to reduce the overall footprint of websites.
Every time a website is loaded, the infrastructure powering it draws electricity from the energy grid. Chances are this energy is not fossil-free and comes with a carbon cost. Despite the concepts of carbon-aware websites being spoken about for some time, there are very few working, practical implementations to inspire positive change.
This project aims to considerably reduce the barrier to entry for developers seeking to build carbon aware websites and unleash the creative potential of what a practical, usable carbon-aware website could be. The team will enable developers to make websites that are aware of key metrics of the energy grid powering its infrastructure, such as carbon intensity and demand levels, and respond appropriately to reduce emissions.
The team will develop and package open code that can be freely used and built upon by the wider developer community. They will be running this project in consultation with leading open source Content Management Systems (CMS) sustainability teams, such as WordPress and Umbraco, and other key internet groups. The team will ensure the resulting code is practical enough to integrate into their codebases, which together power nearly half of the websites on the internet.
Our hugely popular Branch magazine, an early prototype of the concept of carbon-aware websites, will be updated to become a reference implementation of how this code can be used in practice.
This is a project from the themed call ‘Sustainability’ (2024). The focus within this call was on improving the sustainability of the internet and reducing its environmental impact.