Why selecting region matters

Your cloud usage runs on power taken from the local grid of the hyperscale data centre your workload is running in. Due to the differing availability of renewables around the globe, local grids vary in their carbon intensity.

This means the same power consumption will emit more, or less, carbon depending on where the computation is happening.

Data centres also consume water for operations such as cooling, in addition to what is used to generate electricity. For regions already under hydric stress, this can worsen the impact on local populations and businesses.

What each column means

Region

The provider's code for the data-centre region (e.g. eu-west-1).

Country

Where the region is physically located. Shows "Unknown" where the location isn't mapped yet.

Carbon score

How clean the region's electricity grid is, graded A+ (cleanest) down to F, from its grid carbon intensity.

Water stress

Baseline water stress where the region sits, ranked Low to Extremely High. Hover a value for the full band.

Source: WRI Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas.

Cost

Relative cost of running in the region, $ (cheapest) to $$$$$, compared across this provider's regions.

Availability

How many service categories are available for purchase from the cloud provider in a given region compared to the most complete region for that provider, from Perfect down to Very Poor.

What you can do

When choosing your cloud region, check this Greenpixie region scorecard and pick the region with the highest Sustainability Grade you can within your other requirements.