Frequently Asked Questions
General
What is Tailpipe?
Tailpipe is a platform that accurately measures and helps reduce the carbon emissions from your cloud infrastructure and AI workloads. We provide real-time data from your actual usage — not estimates or industry averages.
Which cloud providers does Tailpipe support?
Tailpipe supports AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). We provide comprehensive coverage across compute, storage, networking, and AI services.
How does Tailpipe calculate carbon emissions?
We use your actual cloud usage data combined with real-time grid carbon intensity data to calculate emissions. Our methodology is aligned with the GHG Protocol and verified by independent experts.
What reporting standards does Tailpipe support?
Tailpipe supports GHG Protocol Scope 2 and 3 reporting, and is aligned with the Green Software Foundation SCI and SCI-AI specifications. Reports are audit-ready for compliance purposes.
How quickly can I get started?
Most customers are up and running within a day. Our baseline assessment covers 3 months of historical data, giving you immediate insight into your cloud carbon footprint.
AI Telemetry
Does Tailpipe capture my AI prompts?
No. Tailpipe is privacy-first by design. We never capture, log, or transmit prompts or responses. Only metadata is collected: model name, token counts, latency, and status.
Which AI providers are supported?
We support OpenAI (GPT-4, GPT-3.5), Anthropic/Claude (Claude 4, Claude 3.5), Google Gemini, Mistral, and LangChain (via callback handler for any LangChain-compatible provider).
How does AI carbon tracking work?
Tailpipe captures token counts (input, output, cache creation, cache read) and maps them to energy consumption and carbon emissions using the SCI-AI specification. Different models and providers have different carbon intensities.
What is SCI-AI?
SCI-AI is the Green Software Foundation's specification for measuring the carbon emissions of AI systems. It defines the metrics needed (tokens, model, compute time) and how to convert them to carbon equivalents. Tailpipe captures all SCI-AI required fields.
Is there any performance impact from AI telemetry?
Minimal. The Python SDK adds negligible overhead. The Lambda integration adds ~50-200ms. The proxy mode adds 0ms latency (telemetry is captured asynchronously).
Security & Privacy
How does Tailpipe handle my cloud credentials?
Tailpipe uses read-only access to your cloud billing and usage data. We follow the principle of least privilege — our IAM roles only request the minimum permissions needed.
Where is my data stored?
Telemetry data can be stored in your choice of region: EU, US, APAC, or in your own private infrastructure. We support data residency requirements for regulated industries.
Is Tailpipe SOC 2 compliant?
We follow SOC 2 security principles and are working towards formal certification. Contact us for our current security documentation.
Pricing
What does the baseline assessment include?
The baseline assessment (£2,000 per CSP account) covers a comprehensive 3-month analysis including: full carbon footprint calculation, breakdown by service and region, prioritised reduction recommendations, and an executive summary report.
Are there volume discounts?
Yes. We offer discounts for organisations with multiple cloud accounts. Contact us for a custom quote.
Is there a free trial?
We offer a pilot programme for qualifying organisations. Contact us to discuss your requirements.