When you are pursuing a new internet business opportunity, one of the first things that you need to sort out is web hosting. Whether you are just starting a business blog or a full-fledged e-commerce site, unless you are going to host the site on your own servers, you need to find a company that will host your web site for you. These days, there are so many web hosting choices out there that companies will do almost anything to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack. One way that they will try to do this is by claiming that they are more “green” than your average web host. So, what does this mean?
First off, you should know that it is cheap and easy to buy renewable energy credits, or RECs, to offset the electricity use by web hosts that are not powered by renewable energy. So, if a web hosting company claims that they are “300% wind powered”, that means that they are buying RECs that correspond to 3 times the amount of electricity that their data centers use. However, this is not the same thing as actually running their data centers on renewable energy, although, in theory, this should reduce their effect on global warming just the same.
If you are a renewable energy purist, you might consider choosing a web host that is powered directly by on-site solar panels. Using a combination of solar panels and rechargeable batteries, all of a data center’s electricity needs can be met by solar power, even when the sun is not shining. However, 100% solar-powered web hosts tend to be more expensive than other web hosts, and more restrictive in the number of domains that they host for a given price. You will have to decide whether knowing that your web site is fully powered by renewable energy is worth the higher price tag of a 100% solar host. If not, a web host that purchases RECs to offset its electricity use may be a good compromise if you are concerned about having a “green” internet business.
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