Recycling is gaining its hype all over the world and the web hosting industry is doing its part too. They are playing an active role by reducing energy consumption. How can they do this? They do this by buying equipment or supplies that are a recycled and also the use of alternative energy source to power their operations. This is what we refer to as green web hosting.
So, how does green web hosting works? In the case of maintaining the servers’ life, a lot of cooling must be done in order to maintain its optimum level. Therefore, a lot of energy is needed for this process. Green hosting uses eco-friendly energy sources to power their equipments. It will reduce and try to eliminate the use of traditional energy and depend only on renewable energy sources. Therefore, it will not be like any other hosting companies that run on normal energy and creating more harm to the nature.
The key is to have Renewable Energy Certificates. This means that providers that can supply energy to their equipment using power generated by wind, solar, biogas or geothermal can be considered as a green web hosting company. They can use natural and renewable methods to generate electricity for their own use. So to speak, these companies are able to create their own electricity using solar panels, wind turbines or other energy production methods and use the energy to power their equipment in a reliable and safe level. One company doing this might not be a big deal but imagine what can be achieved if 100 companies do this? It can make a big difference in saving the environment.
Some of these companies will also provide special discounts to non-profit organization or companies that provide them with telecommuting for their staffs. Some even provide free software and operate on a paperless environment and use only renewable energy.
So, does this type of hosting cost more? It remains a debate because different people have different thoughts. A single company that runs on a paperless environment can do a lot for the plant and using renewable energy can reduce tons of material wasted. Therefore, even though they may not save a lot of money running green, it is still a positive effect on preserving the planet.
