What is green web hosting?
There are a number of ways in which the internet has helped us save on resources like paper. However, increased usage over the past decade has led to huge electricity bills and large-scale energy consumption. The internet has been growing at an exponential rate of 400 to 1000% a year, worldwide. In the US, the total electricity bill for operating servers and related equipment came up to $2.7 billion. World wide, this was estimated to be $7.2 billion. At this rate, by 2020, the web hosting industry will cause more pollution that the airline industry. In the midst of demands for a better environment, green web hosting emerged.
Green web hosting, also called eco-friendly web hosting, refers to the web hosting company using eco-friendly energy sources, such as wind or solar energy, to power their servers. They can either produce their own power through renewable sources of energy, or buy Renewable Energy Certificates to obtain power generated by renewable sources. Another feature is that green web hosting companies provide special packages for NGOs. However, green web hosting is also more expensive. But when the alternate price to pay is depletion of our planet, it is wiser to shell out a few extra dollars and encourage green web hosting.