Using Budgets to Reduce Application Emissions

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Lierse, Leo Wilhelm, Moghaddam, Mahyar Tourchi, Werner, Sebastian
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
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author Lierse, Leo Wilhelm
Moghaddam, Mahyar Tourchi
Werner, Sebastian
author_facet Lierse, Leo Wilhelm
Moghaddam, Mahyar Tourchi
Werner, Sebastian
contents As carbon pricing mechanisms like the EU Emissions Trading System are set to increase prices of energy consumption, software architects face growing pressure to design applications that operate within financially predictable emission constraints. Existing approaches typically enforce rigid per-interval emission rates, which prove unsuitable in electrical grids with highly dynamic carbon intensity, which is common in grids with growing renewable energy adoption. We propose the use of emissions budgets, an approach that replaces fixed emission rates with time-bound budgets, enabling applications to dynamically save unused emission allowances during low carbon intensity periods and expend them during high carbon intensity periods. We describe emissions-aware applications using a MAPE-K feedback loop that continuously monitors application power consumption and grid carbon intensity, then adapts resource allocation through vertical scaling or migration to maintain long-term emission limits while maximizing performance. Through simulation using six weeks of real-world carbon intensity data from Germany, France, and Poland, we demonstrate that budget-based management improves task fulfillment by up to 36% in variable grids compared to fixed rates. Crucially, budgets achieve parity with fixed rates in stable grids, making them a safe replacement. We show that emissions budgets are a practical mechanism to balance environmental constraints, operational costs, and service quality when emissions directly translate to financial penalties.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_11341
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Using Budgets to Reduce Application Emissions
Lierse, Leo Wilhelm
Moghaddam, Mahyar Tourchi
Werner, Sebastian
Software Engineering
As carbon pricing mechanisms like the EU Emissions Trading System are set to increase prices of energy consumption, software architects face growing pressure to design applications that operate within financially predictable emission constraints. Existing approaches typically enforce rigid per-interval emission rates, which prove unsuitable in electrical grids with highly dynamic carbon intensity, which is common in grids with growing renewable energy adoption. We propose the use of emissions budgets, an approach that replaces fixed emission rates with time-bound budgets, enabling applications to dynamically save unused emission allowances during low carbon intensity periods and expend them during high carbon intensity periods. We describe emissions-aware applications using a MAPE-K feedback loop that continuously monitors application power consumption and grid carbon intensity, then adapts resource allocation through vertical scaling or migration to maintain long-term emission limits while maximizing performance. Through simulation using six weeks of real-world carbon intensity data from Germany, France, and Poland, we demonstrate that budget-based management improves task fulfillment by up to 36% in variable grids compared to fixed rates. Crucially, budgets achieve parity with fixed rates in stable grids, making them a safe replacement. We show that emissions budgets are a practical mechanism to balance environmental constraints, operational costs, and service quality when emissions directly translate to financial penalties.
title Using Budgets to Reduce Application Emissions
topic Software Engineering
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.11341