Research IT

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Green Compute for Research @UoM

A new special interest group has been launched for anyone interested in the environmental impact of research computing at the University. Find out more about the aims of the group and how to get involved.

We’re excited to announce the launch of a new CaDiR group, where we can discuss environmentally sustainable (green) computing practices at UoM.

  • Are you wondering about the carbon impact of running your software?
  • Do you want to learn about tools and practices to help the University reach NetZero goals in your day-to-day computing for research?
  • Are you interested in discussing the trade-offs between benefits and environmental costs of AI with fellow green software, AI practitioners and IT experts?

If so, the Green Compute for Research @UoM is a welcoming space for information gathering and open discussion for users, developers and hardware experts at all levels and from all disciplines.

Why Green Compute?

Data- and compute-intensive activities such as AI, machine learning, large-scale simulations, and data analysis are resource-intensive. These processes require energy to operate algorithms and store data, and utilise environmental resources for the production, transportation, disposal of hardware, as well as for the operation of large-scale computing centres. Most compute-related expenses are managed by institutions or laboratories, meaning that software developers and end users are often unaware of these costs. This may suggest that computing is only constrained by infrastructure availability, obscuring the substantial environmental impact. Since the University of Manchester uses large-scale compute and AI in all its aspects and has ambitious Net Zero goals, we want to create a space for discussing approaches to measure and moderate the environmental impact of our computing activities.

What will we be doing in this group?

  • Signposting to and discussing good(-enough) practices on green compute
  • Gathering community inputs on green compute practices at the University
  • Highlighting training opportunities on green compute at various levels
  • Posting funding opportunities for research and implementation of green compute practices, with the goal of fostering collaborations between different interested parties
  • Organising informal virtual/on-campus gatherings and discussions (possibly joint with other CaDiR groups) on selected topics

Who Is Involved?

The group is organised by:

Ben Parkes - Senior Lecturer in Climate Resilience, Dept. Civil Engineering and Management

Ben’s work focuses on understanding how climate change affects human livelihoods. He applies climate projections to understand impacts that are communicated to policy makers and the public. His research spans topics such as crop water demand, aircraft emissions, and spacecraft demise, and he has contributed to work on heat and health for DESNZ and UKRI. Ben also serves as the Resilience Lead for the Sustainable Futures platform and has an interest in the practical environmental impacts of computing hardware.

Caterina Doglioni – Professor (Particle Physics), Dept. Physics & Astronomy

Caterina works on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, focusing on the nature of Dark Matter, a kind of unknown matter constituting 85% of the matter in the universe. Her research addresses the data‑intensive challenges of large‑scale particle physics experiments and is grounded in Open Science principles, with a strong focus on sustainable software and AI/ML practices in both FAIR and environmental contexts.

Alejandro Gallego Schmid – Reader (Circular Economy and Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment), Dept. Civil Engineering and Management

Alejandro is part of Tyndall Manchester - an interdisciplinary team working on relevant research on climate change sustainability, where he works identifying circular and sustainable solutions for industrial and energy systems, considering economic, environmental and social aspects. His current research is focused on: i) the role of circular economy to tackle climate change and achieve net-zero solutions; ii) the implementation of circular economy in renewable sources of energy; iii) circular economy in Latin America and the Caribbean; and iv) the nexus between circular economy and digitalization and AI.

Useful links and resources

Here’s some links we find useful as an introduction to the subject – more will be shared in the group.

For information about all the special interest and user groups in CaDiR, visit the Communities page.