IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i7p2999-d1622251.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reducing Environmental Impact with Sustainable Serverless Computing

Author

Listed:
  • Mohammed Akour

    (College of Computer and Information Sciences, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh 12435, Saudi Arabia)

  • Mamdouh Alenezi

    (The Saudi Technology and Security Comprehensive Control Company (Tahakom), Riyadh 12435, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

Serverless computing has emerged as a transformative paradigm in cloud computing, offering scalability, cost efficiency, and potential environmental benefits. By abstracting infrastructure management and enabling on-demand resource allocation, serverless computing minimizes idle resource consumption and reduces operational overhead. This paper critically examines the sustainability implications of serverless computing, evaluating its impact on energy efficiency, resource utilization, and carbon emissions through empirical studies and a survey of cloud professionals. Our findings indicate that serverless computing significantly reduces energy consumption by up to 70% and operational costs by up to 60%, reinforcing its role in green IT initiatives. However, real-world deployments face challenges such as cold-start latency and workload-dependent inefficiencies, which impact overall sustainability benefits. To address these challenges, we propose strategic recommendations, including fine-grained function decomposition, energy-efficient cloud provider selection, and AI-driven resource management. Additionally, we highlight discrepancies between empirical research and practitioner experiences, emphasizing the need for optimized architectures in order to fully harness the sustainability potential of serverless computing. This study provides a foundation for future research, particularly in integrating machine learning and AI-driven optimizations to enhance energy efficiency and performance in serverless environments.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammed Akour & Mamdouh Alenezi, 2025. "Reducing Environmental Impact with Sustainable Serverless Computing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-23, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:7:p:2999-:d:1622251
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/7/2999/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/7/2999/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Muhammad Zafar Yaqub & Abdullah Alsabban, 2023. "Industry-4.0-Enabled Digital Transformation: Prospects, Instruments, Challenges, and Implications for Business Strategies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-33, May.
    2. Chiang, Chang-Tang, 2024. "A systematic literature network analysis of green information technology for sustainability: Toward smart and sustainable livelihoods," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    3. repec:igg:jcac00:v:14:y:2024:i:1:p:1-16 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Meckling, Jonas & Nahm, Jonas, 2019. "The politics of technology bans: Industrial policy competition and green goals for the auto industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 470-479.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Linghong Zhang & Wence Shi, 2025. "The Impacts of the US Inflation Reduction Act on EV Supply Chains," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-19, January.
    2. Fernando Almeida, 2024. "Contributions of Municipal Initiatives to Digital Health Equity," World, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-16, November.
    3. Qiu, Y.Q. & Tsan Sheng Ng, Adam & Zhou, P., 2022. "Optimizing urban electric vehicle incentive policy mixes in China: Perspective of residential preference heterogeneity," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    4. Panteha Farmanesh & Niloofar Solati Dehkordi & Asim Vehbi & Kavita Chavali, 2025. "Artificial Intelligence and Green Innovation in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Competitive-Advantage Drive Toward Achieving Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-20, March.
    5. Ghaemi Asl, Mahdi & Nie, Pu-yan & Charkh, Cyrus, 2024. "Cycles-specific benefits of smart transport for sustainable investing: Global and regional perspectives with different ethical paradigms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    6. Christian Thiel & Anastasios Tsakalidis & Arnulf Jäger-Waldau, 2020. "Will Electric Vehicles Be Killed (again) or Are They the Next Mobility Killer App?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-10, April.
    7. Jack N. Barkenbus, 2020. "Prospects for Electric Vehicles," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-13, July.
    8. Wang, Junqi & Cao, Hongjun, 2022. "Improving competitive strategic decisions of Chinese coal companies toward green transformation: A hybrid multi-criteria decision-making model," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    9. Bi Fan & Zhibin Wen & Quande Qin, 2024. "Competition and cooperation mechanism of new energy vehicle policies in China’s key regions," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.
    10. Eicke, Laima & Weko, Silvia, 2022. "Does green growth foster green policies? Value chain upgrading and feedback mechanisms on renewable energy policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    11. Čečević Bojana Novićević & Antić Ljilja & Jevtić Adrijana, 2023. "Stock Price Prediction of the Largest Automotive Competitors Based on the Monte Carlo Method," Economic Themes, Sciendo, vol. 61(3), pages 419-441, September.
    12. Martinez, Nain & Terrazas-Santamaria, Diana, 2024. "Beyond nearshoring: The political economy of Mexico's emerging electric vehicle industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    13. Hao, Xiaoli & Miao, Erxiang & Sun, Qingyu & Li, Ke & Wen, Shufang & Xue, Yan, 2024. "The impact of digital government on corporate green innovation: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    14. Sushil & Shamita Garg, 2019. "Internationalization of Tata Motors: Strategic Analysis Using Flowing Stream Strategy Process," International Journal of Global Business and Competitiveness, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 54-70, December.
    15. Gregory Trencher & Achmed Edianto, 2021. "Drivers and Barriers to the Adoption of Fuel Cell Passenger Vehicles and Buses in Germany," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-26, February.
    16. Joern Block & Solvej Lorenzen & Holger Steinmetz, 2024. "Decarbonization types of medium‐sized and mid‐cap firms in the manufacturing sector," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(8), pages 8833-8850, December.
    17. Jiang, Zhangsheng & Xu, Chenghao, 2023. "Policy incentives, government subsidies, and technological innovation in new energy vehicle enterprises: Evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    18. Emad Abdelsalam & Fares Almomani & Shadwa Ibrahim & Feras Kafiah & Mohammad Jamjoum & Malek Alkasrawi, 2023. "A Novel Design of a Hybrid Solar Double-Chimney Power Plant for Generating Electricity and Distilled Water," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-20, February.
    19. Mekky, Maher F. & Collins, Alan R., 2024. "The Impact of state policies on electric vehicle adoption -A panel data analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    20. Zimm, Caroline, 2021. "Improving the understanding of electric vehicle technology and policy diffusion across countries," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 54-66.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:7:p:2999-:d:1622251. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.