Exploring Grid-Aware Websites
2 days ago
- #green-tech
- #web-development
- #sustainability
- Grid-aware websites respond to the cleanliness or dirtiness of a user’s electricity grid by adjusting the website's features based on the current energy source (renewable or fossil fuels).
- Implementation involves using the Electricity Maps API to check the grid status based on the user's rough location, then modifying the website via a serverless function before it reaches the browser.
- The project aims to explore if grid-awareness can reduce carbon emissions of websites, despite the additional code required.
- Grid-awareness encourages a mindset shift from 'How can we do more?' to 'How can we do more with less?', focusing on performance budgets and necessary user experience elements.
- The Green Web Foundation's philosophy highlights the connection between digital and physical worlds, raising awareness about the environmental impact of digital choices.
- Grid-awareness can be integrated into existing practices like progressive enhancement, data saver modes, or lower power modes.
- Challenges include the high cost of the Electricity Maps API, the need for multi-disciplinary knowledge to implement grid-awareness, and adoption barriers in larger web frameworks.
- The grid-aware advisory group is working on libraries for CMSes like WordPress, Drupal, Umbraco, and Wagtail to lower implementation barriers.
- Demo implementations using 11ty and Astro show how grid-awareness can be applied, with different approaches for each tool.
- The project invites web developers, designers, and sustainability advocates to join the conversation and experiment with grid-awareness on their own sites.