Nine Wind-Powered Web Hosts
Companies Use Wind Power, Offsets to Reduce Environmental Impact
A guide to Web hosting companies that use wind power or wind energy offsets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
If you're concerned about the environment and looking for a Web host, you'll find there's a growing number of "green" hosting companies in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere. Following are nine Web hosts that reduce their impact on the environment with wind-powered energy or wind-energy offsets.
- Based in Toronto, Ontario, EthicalHost doesn't actually run on wind power generated on site, but it does buy offsets to help support wind power production elsewhere on the Canadian energy grid. EthicalHost first calculates how much energy its offices and computers use each year, then offsets that consumption by buying renewable energy certificates to equal that amount, about 3,933 kilowatt hours-worth. In greenhouse gas terms, that's like taking one car off of the roads for a year, according to the company.
- Go Green Hosting, located in Claremore, Oklahoma, takes a similar approach. While it doesn't have wind turbines planted on top of its data center, it buys offsets that support wind power in the state. The company says it also uses 100-percent recycled paper in its offices.
- Sustainable Hosting also buys certificates for renewable wind energy to offset its business energy consumption. Of one year, the certificates add up enough to compensate for 32,521 pounds of carbon dioxide -- as much as could be absorbed by 12 acres of trees, according to the company.
- Host Papa follows the same strategy as all the others, buying wind-energy offsets to compensate for the power it takes to keep its data center and offices running. The company is based in Niagara Falls, New York, and Oakville, Ontario.
- Founded in 1997, MacHighway buys wind energy credits through Renewable Choice. MacHighway is located just outside of Denver, Colorado.
- Earlier this year, Rackspace announced the launch of its GreenSpace initiative, which includes a partnership with NativeEnergy (http://www.nativeenergy.com) to support the Owl Feather War Bonnet wind farm. The nine-year-old company also has unveiled a new data center in the U.K. that will operate with renewable energy. Rackspace currently operates eight data centers around the globe, and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.
- The Portland, Oregon-based ThinkHost began operating fully off of a combination of wind and solar power in 2005. Founded in 1999, ThinkHost also allows most of its employees to telecommute to reduce their environmental impact.
- Elfon is a Web host based in Salt Lake City, Utah. It supports its current customers' power needs with wind energy, but is no longer accepting new clients.
- GreenHosting was established in 2001 by the Canadian Association for Renewable Energies. All its power comes from the Calgary-based utility company ENMAX, which generates energy from wind turbines in Alberta. To keep its energy demands low, GreenHosting targets organizations that don't need complex server requirements or e-commerce.
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