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Investigating the Use of GitHub Copilot for Green Software

In: Advances and New Trends in Environmental Informatics

Author

Listed:
  • Maria Stivala

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

  • Iffat Fatima

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

  • Patricia Lago

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

Abstract

This study empirically investigates the use of GitHub Copilot in developing energy-efficient software and the associated trade-offs. We compare the energy consumption and performance of human-written code to (i) the human-written code optimized by using GitHub Copilot, and (ii) code generated by GitHub Copilot. A set of 15 programming scenarios is used to test our hypothesis. GitHub Copilot is prompted for energy-efficient solutions. Our results demonstrate that GitHub Copilot-generated code can achieve significantly lower energy consumption when optimized, without compromising code quality. The study did not find statistically significant differences in energy consumption compared to human-written code. However, it highlights the potential of AI-assisted coding tools such as GitHub Copilot for developing energy-efficient software and the importance of explicitly prompting for energy consumption.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Stivala & Iffat Fatima & Patricia Lago, 2025. "Investigating the Use of GitHub Copilot for Green Software," Progress in IS, in: Volker Wohlgemuth & Hamdy Kandil & Amna Ramzy (ed.), Advances and New Trends in Environmental Informatics, pages 219-235, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:prochp:978-3-031-85284-8_13
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-85284-8_13
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