---
title: Understanding environmental footprint estimation
description: This page explains how to understand the environmental footprint estimation of Scaleway products.
tags: environmental-footprint impact environment datacentre
dates:
  validation: 2025-05-13
  posted: 2024-10-30
---
import image from './assets/scaleway-env-impact-estimation-az.webp'
import image2 from './assets/scaleway-select-a-server-env-foot.webp'
import image3 from './assets/scaleway-env-footprint-order-summary.webp'


<Message type="important">
This feature is currently available on a limited number of products and will soon be extended to all products. Refer to the [Environmental footprint calculator product integration](/environmental-footprint/additional-content/environmental-footprint-integration) index to see which products will integrate the calculator next.
</Message>

When you order a product that integrates the Environmental Footprint Calculator, you can see the estimated impact of the product before you order.

In this page, we use Elastic Metal servers as an example to explain how the estimation represented.

<Message type="note">
  The estimation described on this page is based on the calculation methodology detailed in the [Environmental Footprint calculation breakdown](/environmental-footprint/additional-content/environmental-footprint-calculator) documentation page.
</Message>

## Availability Zone footprint estimation

When you select your Elastic Metal server's Availability Zone, you can see the quantity of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) emitted per kWh consumed for each zone.

<Lightbox image={image} alt="screenshot of the Scaleway console showing the different availability zones in which you can create an Elastic Metal server. For each AZ, three green leaves indicate the level of environmental impact - the system is explained below." />

This data is determined by the [Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE)](/environmental-footprint/concepts/#pue-power-usage-effectiveness) of the data center and the [energy mix](/environmental-footprint/concepts/#energy-mix) of the country in which the data center is located.

<Message type="note">
  We use [Ember's](https://ember-climate.org/) Electricity Data Explorer to determine the impact linked to the energy mix. The energy mix can be very different from one country to another depending on the origin of the electricity used. We can see on [Electricity Maps' Environmental Impact by Zone map](https://app.electricitymaps.com/map) the significant differences that there can be between countries.
</Message>

The estimation is represented by three green leaf icons:

  - When the three leaves are dark green, this means that the AZ has the lowest quantity of CO2e emitted per kWh consumed, and each kw consumed in your Elastic Metal has a lower impact.
  - When two leaves are dark green, this means that the AZ has a low quantity of CO2e emitted per kWh consumed
  - When only one leaf is dark green, the AZ has a bigger quantity of CO2e emitted per kWh consumed

<Message type="note">
  When you hover your cursor over the leaves or when you select the AZ, you can see the detail of the environmental footprint estimation in gCO₂e/kwh.
</Message>

<Message type="important">
  The AZ footprint estimation is a straightforward calculation of CO₂ emissions per kWh of electricity consumed, based on the energy mix and the data center’s Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) specific to that AZ. For example, in an AZ like PAR-2, each kWh consumed may have an impact of 0.065 kgCO₂e. <br /><br />

  Meanwhile, the offer footprint estimation is a more complex calculation that combines the AZ-specific data with additional factors relevant to the specific offer. This calculation considers not just energy consumption but also other elements, which are outlined in the [Environmental Footprint calculation breakdown](/environmental-footprint/additional-content/environmental-footprint-calculator) documentation page, to reflect a comprehensive impact specific to the offer rather than just adding up kW-based impacts.
</Message>

## Elastic Metal offers footprint estimation

For Elastic Metal offers, the environmental footprint estimation considers the impact of the **manufacturing** and **use** of all the elements that allow the service to work, such as network, cross-IT equipment and stock, and non-IT elements in addition to the manufacturing and use of the server itself. The AZ you chose in the previous step will impact the **use** by multiplying each kw consumed by each of these elements by the value indicated.

<Message type="note">
  For a detailed report of how the environmental impact of Scaleway services is calculated, refer to the [Environmental Footprint calculator breakdown](/environmental-footprint/additional-content/environmental-footprint-calculator) documentation page.
</Message>

For usage, we rely on an estimate of electricity consumption. This estimation is based on tests carried out by the Hardware team at Scaleway. Each range of offers was tested using different compute configurations, to ensure coverage of a variety of possible power consumption set ups.

These different computing configurations allow us to simulate enough use cases to have an idea of the power consumption, but the actual consumption will depend on how the server is used in practice.

We estimate the measure the server's electricity consumption and then calculate its estimated impact based on the energy mix of the selected zone and the data center's PUE.

The estimation is represented by three green leaf icons:

<Lightbox image={image2} alt="screenshot of the offer selection section of the Elastic Metal order page in the Scaleway console showing the different offers available to order. For each offer, three green leaves indicate the level of environmental impact - the system is explained below." />

  - When the three leaves are dark green, this means that the offer has the lowest environmental impact
  - When two leaves are dark green, this means that the offer has a low environmental impact
  - When only one leaf is dark green, the offer has a bigger environmental impact

<Message type="note">
  When you hover your cursor over the leaves or when you select an offer, you can see the detail of the environmental footprint estimation in gCO₂e per hour or per month, depending on the billing method chosen.
</Message>

A summary of the total environmental footprint estimation for the selected offer is shown before the order summary. We also add an indication to help you imagine what this impact is, such as `≈ 35 km by car`.

<Lightbox image={image3} alt="screenshot of the Scaleway console showing an order summary of an Elastic Metal server, including a dropdown where the environmental footprint estimation is indicated in kgCO₂e/month" />