1. Estimating Energy
Calculates per-pod energy consumption (Joules) using Prometheus metrics and cloud instance power profiles based on the Cloud Carbon Footprint methodology.
Introduction to GreenKube
What is GreenKube?
Section titled “What is GreenKube?”GreenKube is an open-source FinGreenOps tool designed to help DevOps, SRE, and FinOps teams measure, understand, and reduce the carbon footprint and costs of their Kubernetes infrastructure.
It combines FinOps (financial optimization) with GreenOps (environmental sustainability) into a unified platform that provides:
- Real-time monitoring of energy consumption, CO₂ emissions, and costs per pod, namespace, and node
- Actionable recommendations to reduce both cloud bills and environmental impact
- Regulatory compliance support for CSRD/ESRS E1 carbon reporting requirements
- Historical analysis with flexible time ranges and data export capabilities
The Problem
Section titled “The Problem”Cloud computing is responsible for approximately 2-4% of global CO₂ emissions — comparable to the airline industry. As organizations scale their Kubernetes infrastructure, they face two mounting challenges:
1. Regulatory Pressure (CSRD)
Section titled “1. Regulatory Pressure (CSRD)”The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires companies to report the carbon footprint of their entire value chain, including cloud services (Scope 3). Without proper tooling, estimating the carbon impact of Kubernetes workloads is nearly impossible.
2. Cost Inefficiency
Section titled “2. Cost Inefficiency”Studies show that 30-40% of cloud spending is wasted on idle, oversized, or poorly optimized resources. This waste translates directly into unnecessary carbon emissions.
The Solution
Section titled “The Solution”GreenKube addresses both challenges simultaneously by:
2. Tracking Carbon
Converts energy to CO₂e emissions using real-time grid carbon intensity data from Electricity Maps, with region-specific accuracy.
3. Optimizing Resources
Identifies optimization opportunities — zombie pods, oversized workloads, autoscaling candidates — with estimated savings in both cost and CO₂.
4. Reporting
Generates detailed reports by pod, namespace, and time period in formats compatible with CSRD/ESRS E1 requirements.
Who Is It For?
Section titled “Who Is It For?”| Role | Use Case |
|---|---|
| DevOps / SRE | Monitor cluster efficiency, identify wasteful workloads, right-size resources |
| FinOps | Optimize cloud costs with visibility into per-workload spending and recommendations |
| Sustainability / CSR | Generate carbon reports for CSRD compliance, track emission reduction progress |
| Platform Engineers | Deploy a self-hosted monitoring stack with Helm, integrate with existing Prometheus/OpenCost |
| CTOs / Engineering Managers | Get high-level dashboards showing cost and emission trends across the organization |
Key Concepts
Section titled “Key Concepts”FinGreenOps
Section titled “FinGreenOps”GreenKube introduces the concept of FinGreenOps — the convergence of:
- FinOps: Financial management and optimization of cloud costs
- GreenOps: Environmental sustainability and carbon footprint reduction
By combining these disciplines, teams can make decisions that are both cost-effective and environmentally responsible.
Energy Estimation
Section titled “Energy Estimation”GreenKube estimates energy consumption using:
- CPU utilization metrics from Prometheus
- Cloud instance power profiles (min/max watts per vCPU) based on the Cloud Carbon Footprint methodology
- Dynamic power modeling that accounts for idle and active power components
Carbon Calculation
Section titled “Carbon Calculation”The carbon emission formula is:
CO₂e (grams) = Energy (kWh) × Grid Intensity (gCO₂e/kWh) × PUEWhere:
- Energy is calculated from CPU utilization and instance power profiles
- Grid Intensity comes from Electricity Maps API (real-time) or a configurable default
- PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) accounts for datacenter overhead (cooling, networking, etc.)
Technology Stack
Section titled “Technology Stack”| Component | Technology |
|---|---|
| Backend | Python 3.11, FastAPI, asyncio |
| Frontend | SvelteKit, ECharts, Tailwind CSS |
| Data Collection | Prometheus, OpenCost, Kubernetes API |
| Carbon Data | Electricity Maps API, Boavizta API |
| Storage | PostgreSQL, SQLite, Elasticsearch |
| Deployment | Helm Chart, Docker (multi-arch) |
| CLI | Typer + Rich |
Next Steps
Section titled “Next Steps”Ready to get started? Follow the guides below:
Quick Start → Get GreenKube running in 5 minutes
Installation → Detailed installation and deployment guide
Architecture → Understand how GreenKube works under the hood