IBM Cloud Docs
FAQ for IBM Cloud Carbon Calculator

FAQ for IBM Cloud Carbon Calculator

FAQ for IBM Cloud® Carbon Calculator might include questions on how to find guidance on accessing emissions reports, understanding how emissions are calculated, supported services, using data with ESG tools like IBM Envizi, and providing feedback. To find all FAQ for IBM Cloud, see our FAQ library.

Why can't I see my emissions data?

You might not be able to view your accounts emissions data because you don't have the correct access or the service doesn't have enough data. For access, account owners, account administrators, and users with a viewer role or higher on the billing service can view and export emissions data for the entire account. Supported services must have at least 30 days of data to be viewed on the carbon calculator.

If you're still having issues viewing data, create a support case in the IBM Cloud Support Center.

How do you calculate the emissions?

The total emissions are calculated by comparing the energy-related usage with data center energy sources. Emissions from key greenhouse gases are measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent (kgCO2e). You can download the total emissions data in CSV format. View the total emissions widget on the Carbon Calculator page in the console.

Can I view emissions for all services on my account?

Emissions data is currently tracked for a subset of services, but more services are under consideration to be added. Emission data is currently available for the following services:

  • Analytics Engine
  • App Configuration
  • Application Load Balancer
  • Bare Metal Servers for VPC
  • Bare Metal Servers for Classic
  • Block Storage for Classic
  • Block Storage for VPC
  • Cloud HSM
  • Cloud Object Storage
  • Cloudant
  • Container Registry
  • Continuous Delivery
  • Data Engine (previously SQL Query)
  • Databases for Elasticsearch
  • Databases for EnterpriseDB
  • Databases for etcd
  • Databases for MongoDB
  • Databases for MySQL
  • Databases for PostgreSQL
  • Databases for Redis
  • DataStage
  • Db2 Warehouse
  • DNS Services
  • Event Notifications
  • Event Streams
  • File Storage for Classic
  • File Storage for VPC
  • Fortigate Security Appliance 10 Gbps
  • Gateway Appliance
  • IBM Cloud Monitoring
  • Key Protect
  • Kubernetes Service
  • Load Balancer for Classic
  • Messages for RabbitMQ
  • MQ
  • Network Load Balancer
  • SAP on Classic Infrastructure
  • SAP on VMware
  • Satellite
  • Secrets Manager
  • Security and Compliance Center
  • Security and Compliance Center Workload Protection
  • VMware Solutions
  • VPN for VPC
  • Virtual Servers for Classic
  • Virtual Server for VPC

Because emissions are reported after the close of each billing cycle, data for newly added services and current quarter results take about two months to populate.

How do I use this data with Envizi or other third party ESG reporting tools?

IBM Envizi is a robust data management foundation that is designed to create a single, trusted data source for all your ESG reporting and opportunity identification. Use ESG reporting to meet compliance and reporting requirements. For more information, see IBM Envizi ESG Suite.

Envizi integration currently requires creation of a custom connector. Reach out to your IBM Cloud representative for more information.

How do I submit feedback on Carbon Calculator?

Talk to your customer success manager (CSM) or create case on support center. When you open a support case, choose billing and usage topics and subtopics, but specify carbon calculator in case description.

How do I view the carbon emissions factor of my data center?

In the carbon calculator, on the locations widget, you can hover over the location of their data center to see carbon emissions factor. For more information, see Working with IBM Cloud's carbon calculator.