Green cloud computing for sustainable energy management: a comparison of innovative strategies for implementing the green economy

Green economy definitions show criticism regarding traditional economic approaches, responsible for not having properly considered environmental and economic impacts caused by the current production system. The ‘green’ concept is related to an entire system of processes and actions (e.g., efficient use of resources, waste prevention and recycling, sustainable mobility, and smart buildings) which bring benefits for the environment by reducing the impacts arising from human activities. In this context, the aim of this paper is to analyse the benefits developed by cloud computing infrastructures in terms of environmental impact reduction and economic sustainability. Starting from the analysis of the existing literature on this topic, this paper presents an in-depth assessment and comparison concerning the strategies of the four most successful ICT companies (the so-called ‘GAFA’), based on a SWOT analysis focused on cloud-based services provided using renewable energies for the sustainable development of the green cloud computing paradigm.