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GreenKube

Carbon Tracking

GreenKube’s carbon tracking converts your Kubernetes cluster’s energy consumption into CO₂ equivalent emissions using real-time electricity grid carbon intensity data.

The Problem

Section titled “The Problem”

Engineering teams running Kubernetes workloads have no visibility into the carbon footprint they generate. Without measurement, reducing emissions is impossible — and cloud waste compounds the problem by creating unnecessary CO₂ on top of unnecessary spending.

How It Works

Section titled “How It Works”

1. Energy Estimation

Section titled “1. Energy Estimation”

GreenKube estimates the power consumption of each pod using a combination of:

  • CPU utilization × node TDP (Thermal Design Power)
  • Memory utilization × per-GB power coefficient
  • GPU utilization × GPU TDP (when applicable)
  • Network and disk I/O power overhead

2. Carbon Zone Mapping

Section titled “2. Carbon Zone Mapping”

Each node is automatically mapped to a carbon zone based on its cloud provider and region. GreenKube includes built-in mappings for:

  • AWS (all regions)
  • Google Cloud Platform (all regions)
  • Microsoft Azure (all regions)
  • OVH Cloud
  • Scaleway

3. Carbon Intensity

Section titled “3. Carbon Intensity”

GreenKube fetches real-time carbon intensity (gCO₂/kWh) from Electricity Maps for each carbon zone. This means your emissions tracking reflects the actual energy mix of the grid powering your workloads.

4. Emissions Calculation

Section titled “4. Emissions Calculation”
CO₂e (grams) = Energy (kWh) × Carbon Intensity (gCO₂/kWh)

This is computed per pod, aggregated per namespace, and rolled up to the cluster level.

Carbon Visibility & Reporting

Section titled “Carbon Visibility & Reporting”

GreenKube gives you the data you need to understand and reduce your carbon footprint:

FeatureDescription
Per-pod CO₂e breakdownSee exactly which workloads emit the most carbon
Historical dataTime-series storage with configurable retention
Audit trailImmutable metric snapshots with timestamps
Export formatsCSV, JSON export; API access for BI integration
Methodology transparencyOpen-source estimation models

Note on CSRD: GreenKube provides carbon data that can be useful as supporting evidence for sustainability reporting. However, it is not purpose-built as a CSRD compliance tool. For formal regulatory submissions, consult a qualified sustainability auditor.

Configuration

Section titled “Configuration”

To enable real-time carbon intensity, set your Electricity Maps API token:

# Helm values.yaml
electricityMaps:
  enabled: true
  token: "your-api-token"

Without a token, GreenKube falls back to static carbon intensity averages per country — still useful, but less accurate.

Section titled “Related”