Green hosting or eco-friendly hosting is

Internet hosting An Internet hosting service is a service that runs servers connected to the Internet, allowing organizations and individuals to serve content or host services connected to the Internet. A common kind of hosting is web hosting. Most hosting provi ...

that involves strategies to reduce the

environmental impact Environmental issues are disruptions in the usual function of ecosystems. Further, these issues can be caused by humans ( human impact on the environment) or they can be natural. These issues are considered serious when the ecosystem cannot reco ...

of their activities. These may include the increased use of

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

planting trees Tree planting is the process of transplanting tree seedlings, generally for forestry, land reclamation, or landscaping purposes. It differs from the transplantation of larger trees in arboriculture and from the lower-cost but slower and less re ...

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

s, and

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

around and over

data center A data center is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems. Since IT operations are crucial for busines ...

s, and more day-to-day activities such as

energy conservation Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less and better sources of energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavi ...

and the use of energy-saving appliances. Green hosting may also utilize

green marketing Green marketing refers to the marketing of products that are considered environmentally safe. It encompasses a broad range of activities, including product modification, changes to the production process, sustainable packaging, and modifications to ...

to ease consumer concerns, and carbon offsetting, the purchasing of green certificates to offset

carbon emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...

. A deceitful web hosting service may participate in

greenwashing Greenwashing (a compound word modeled on "whitewash"), also called green sheen, is a form of advertising or marketing spin that deceptively uses green PR and green marketing to persuade the public that an organization's products, goals, or ...

where the eco-friendly marketing term does not reflect reality.

Take up

Adoption of green hosting was initially very slow in the early 2000s, largely because the hosting companies who were providing these services initially were doing so at premium prices. There was also limited awareness regarding green hosting among customers and how it helped the environment. Today, though, the market has changed, with many hosting companies offering green services across the globe. While still limited, consumer awareness is also increasing over time. A survey of 1,000 internet users in the United States in 2024 showed that 28% say they would definitely support businesses with strong environmental practices, while 35.4% of shoppers said they would be more likely to purchase from sustainable websites. World Internet usage statistics show that internet usage is still rapidly growing in the U.S., with 97.1% of individuals reported to be using the internet by 2022, and 67% of the global population (5.4b people) online by 2023. The

International Energy Agency The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization, established in 1974, that provides policy recommendations, analysis and data on the global energy sector. The 31 member countries and 13 associatio ...

noted in 2023 that data centres are estimated to have consumed 1-1.3% of global final electricity demand, excluding cryptocurrency mining - while also being responsible for 1% of energy-related C02 emissions. The

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL, Berkeley Lab) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in the Berkeley Hills, hills of Berkeley, California, United States. Established i ...

2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report found that 4.4% of electricity in the US is being consumed by data centres, a number that is expected to rise to 6.7-12% by 2028. . As the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) increases and the number of data centres worldwide continues to grow, understanding the environmental impact of AI has become an important area of study in the context of digital infrastructure and

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

. While green hosts do not and cannot have zero impact on the environment and zero C02 output, they work to reduce and minimise their impact significantly by utilising different techniques in order to offset it.

Green hosting strategies

A green organization does not necessarily have to have access to green power from wind, water, or solar energy, they can also purchase green certificates to offset the use and cost of conventional energy. Hosting sites that contain Green-e certification labels are organizations that voluntarily adhere to strict environmental guidelines. Other recognized certificates that regularly used in the web hosting industry include The Gold Standard, Green Power Partnership, VCS (Verified Carbon Standard), and Climate Action Reserve.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green Hosting Web hosting Computers and the environment

Take up

Green hosting strategies

See also

References