Sustainable Computing and Simulation: A Literature Survey

Smart technologies are everywhere and the creation of a smart world, from smart devices to smart cities is rapidly growing to potentially improve quality of life. Businesses, governments, and individual users of smart technology expect a level of service and access to data that is achieved through data and supercomputing centers. These centers potentially consume vast amounts of power and their continued growth may be unsustainable and contribute to greenhouse gasses. As smart technologies rely heavily on such computational capabilities their sustainability is pivotal for a smart future. This paper explores the literature to: identify the problems; categorize the challenges as well as possible solutions; explore how simulation and machine learning can improve computational sustainability; and consider the need to conduct trade-off analysis to determine when to apply simulation and machine learning benefits. A taxonomy for sustainable computing is presented for future research.