Choosing a Web Host
If you’re looking to set up a Web site and have been looking for a suitable Web hosting provider, there has recently emerged a new hosting component to consider along with cost, storage bandwidth and the other old measures.
You may have noticed the term “green Web hosting” appearing in your searches, an indicator of a trend among many hosting providers toward more environmentally accountable services.
In order to operate in a more environmentally friendly manner, Web hosting providers have working to either reduce their energy usage or compensate for their energy consumption by purchasing carbon credits with renewable energy resource programs.
Green Web hosting in general has been gaining in popularity and seems likely to become more widespread. So if hosting your Web site with an environmentally conscious Web hosting provider appeals to you or fits well with your corporate culture, there are plenty of options available.
A common method Web hosting providers are using to go green is offsetting their carbon emissions by purchasing carbon credits so that enough “good” energy is produced to counteract the energy being consumed by the company’s data center.
Oregon-based Web hosting provider HostGator says its location prevented it from installing solar panels or constructing wind turbines to supply its energy. Instead, it purchases green energy certificates (99 percent wind and one percent solar) to offset its carbon emissions by funding renewable energy sources that produce clean energy for others on the grid, nevertheless making it a carbon neutral Web hosting provider. The company says it also encourages staff to telecommute, eliminating another contributor to global warming. HostGator offers hosting plans starting at $5.95 per month.