What is ‘Green Hosting’?

The environmental impact of traditional web hosting

‘Traditional web hosting’ refers to a single server or a group of servers located in a single location. When evaluating the impact of ‘traditional web hosting’ it is significant. This is due to the extensive electricity demands required to power servers but also to keep them cool. These traditional servers also often used energy from non-renewable sources, meaning they emitted high carbon levels. 

Even at the lowest end of available estimates, the data center industry is responsible for as much greenhouse gas emissions as the airline industry. 

What is green hosting?

‘Green-hosting means hosting your website with a server that runs on renewable energy’

• How does it help?
• How does it work?

There are so many different definitions of green hosting. Some say it has to run on renewable energy, others say that green web hosting companies are aware of the impact of web hosting on the planet and use various sustainable practices to reduce their carbon footprint. So let’s sum up some of the key aspects of green hosting:

Renewable energy: Using energy sources such as solar, wind, or hydroelectric power to run data centers

Energy efficiency: Implementing technologies and practices that reduce the amount of energy consumed by servers and data centers. This might include advanced cooling systems.

Sustainable Practices: This is quite a broad term that many companies like to use. It means adopting eco-friendly policies within the company. These policies could be reducing waste, recycling, and promoting the use of green products in the office environment

Green Certifications: Obtaining certifications from recognised environmental organisations verify a company’s commitment to sustainability. 

What impact does Green Hosting have on the environment but also on your business?

1. When providers and large companies adopt green hosting practices they are promoting environmental awareness among their customers and the broader public. 
2. By investing in renewable energy, green hosting companies help stimulate the growth of the renewable energy sector. This can lead to greater innovation, reduced costs for green technologies, and increased availability of clean energy. 
3. As governments and markets increasingly prioritise sustainability, companies that use green hosting or have a green hosting policy may gain competitive advantages. They meet regulatory requirements and attract environmentally conscious customers. 
4. Some green hosting providers also implement practices to reduce electronic waste such as recycling old hardware and making the conscious decision to choose equipment with a longer lifespan.

These are all great benefits for choosing to use green hosting however they are mostly secondary impacts. This means they are not directly reducing carbon emissions, but rather promoting sustainability to the public, and other companies and supporting sustainable orginisations. 

The number 1 driver for businesses taking climate action is increased brand reputation

So are these companies really being green or just promoting it to increase sales and brand reputation? 

What do developers and web hosting providers say?

Most hosting providers have energy policies. Let’s take a look at the most common and large providers. 

Microsoft Azure has strong environmental sustainability goals. Since 2012 they have been carbon neutral and they have to be carbon negative by 2030.

By 2050 they aim to have removed historical emissions since they were founded in 1975.

Microsoft Azure also aims to replenish more water than consumed by 2030.

You can read more about Microsoft Azure’s policy here.

Google Cloud Platform focuses on efficiency, with AI becoming a tool they use for decision-making, supply chain transparency, regulatory compliance, and optimisation. 

You can read more about Google Cloud Platforms sustainability here.

Amazon Web Services also focuses on efficiency. This means improving efficiency practices when it comes to scale, performance, cooling and also power efficiency. 

Amazon says: ‘We are on the path to powering our operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025 as part of our commitment to being net zero by 2040.’

You can read more about Amazon Web Services’ sustainability here.

Digital Ocean has confirmed that they use 100% renewable energy in all locations aside from Bangalore which is non-disclosed. London, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt are all on green grids. 

Bunny.net

Bunny Net is the platform that we use for content delivery. Initially looking at their website we were unable to find any information on their sustainability policy. We asked their virtual chatbot what their sustainability policy was and they replied with this:

‘While internet technology companies, including bunny.net, typically consume large amounts of energy, may are making strides to minimise their environmental impact and contribute positively to sustainability. Bunny.net is dedicated to being an environmentally friendly company. It powers its data centers with 100% renewable energy and plant trees to offset its carbon footprint. More specifically, bunny.net plants a tree for every 100,00 GB of data transferred on its network, and it also works with environmental organisations for carbon offsetting. 

What is Carbon Offsetting?

Carbon offsetting is a practice aimed at compensating for carbon dioxide emissions produced by a particular activity, such as web hosting. Carbon offsetting involves investing in organisations and projects that aim to reduce or remove equivalent amounts of carbon emissions. What are the benefits and what are some things for your business to consider before venturing into carbon offsetting? 

Benefits of carbon offsetting

There the clear benefits of reducing the overall concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere however what are the other benefits to the climate that carbon offsetting has?

• Promotes sustainable practices: It encourages other organisations and individuals to implement sustainable tech and practices into their businesses and daily lives. 
• Raising awareness: Participating and promoting your changes can raise awareness about climate change.
• Supporting local communities: Many offset projects provide actual benefits such as creating jobs, improving air and water quality, and enhancing biodiversity in certain areas and communities. 
• Balancing unavoidable emissions: Unfortunately, some emissions are avoidable at this current moment in time. This means that although we cannot directly reduce these. Offsetting provides a method of balancing these emissions.

Considerations:

• Temporary fix- Some people argue that offsetting is viewed as a way of avoiding more significant changes that need to be made to reduce carbon emissions at the source.
• Project effectiveness- The actual impact of some projects can be difficult to measure and therefore there are concerns that it isn’t sustainable in the long term.
• Additionality- This means that the project wouldn’t have occurred without the offset funding. Ensuring this can be challenging.

You can read more about Carbon Offsetting here.

Green certifications and standards

Businesses have several options when it comes to green certifications and adhering to environmental standards. These certifications help demonstrate a company’s commitment and promote that they are environmentally responsible. Here are a few examples of green certifications:

• Certified B Corporation: Meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. Balance profit and purpose. Focuses on the impact on workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment. 

• LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) A globally recognised green building certification system developed in the US. Framework for designing constructing and maintaining buildings and spaces that are environmentally responsible. 

• FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) Certification is a globally recognised standard for responsible forest management. It ensures that products such as wood, paper, and other forest-based materials come from sustainably managed forests that provide not only environmental benefits but also social, and economic benefits. 
• ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System) is part of the international organisation for standardisation family. The ISO 14001 provides a framework for effective environmental management systems. This helps organisations improve their environmental responsibility through more efficient use of resources and reduction of waste. 

Conclusion

We can no longer shy away from the environmental impact that we are all having. As the digital world rapidly advances it’s no lie that it cannot be overlooked. Ultimately, choosing green hosting is a step towards a more sustainable future. However, it is something that should be researched into not just a quick decision to improve your brand reputation.