From Guest Blogger Romeo: Energy Consumption of the Internet – Technological and Environmental Benefits of Green Hosting

The internet has brought the world closer. The upside of internet usage is its reliability and its speed when used as a form of communication by individuals and businesses. One of the downside of internet use is its negative impact on the environment. The data centers and power servers used by companies’ web hosts consume a lot of electric energy in attempt to ensure their online business is kept running 24/7.

The need for heightened security and cooling controls in these servers also takes a toll on the amount of energy consumed. There is increased concern on energy depletion by the servers. It is estimated that, more than 90% of the energy draw from the national grid by these servers goes to waste. Efficiency is the driving factor in online business. To ensure that business is carried out without a hitch, data centers have standby generators for back up in case of power failure.

The use of generators come with diesel exhaust which is mainly carbon. Due to the amount of carbon dioxide they emit, data centers have been cited as the major unpolluted air regulation violators. Some people are of the opinion that, a web server emits more carbon dioxide in a year than a car. While this is yet to be proved, with an estimated yearly increase of 1000% internet usage globally, by year 2020, there will be more pollution coming from this industry than from aviation sector.

Many studies have been carried out to estimate the amount of energy consumed by this industry. One study was carried by industrial experts working for the Times. They estimated that power amounting to thirty billion watts is annually consumed by digital warehouses, which is an equivalent thirty nuclear power plants.The amount of energy consumed by a single data center is more than that which is consumed by an average sized town.

A separate study was carried out by two University Of California researchers to estimate the amount of energy consumed by devices connected to the internet. They concluded that, cables, laptops, e-readers, desktops, wires, servers and other devices connected to the internet consume between 170 and 307 Giga watts of power, which is between 1.1 and 1.9 percent of the total power globally consumed.

There is need to preserve the environment for use by our children, grand children and the children to our grand children. One of the sure fire way is green web hosting. Green web hosting essentially involves switching from the traditional electricity drawn web hosting to environmentally friendly renewable sources of energy such solar and wind. It may also include planting of trees around the data centers and using energy saving devices to save energy.

The benefits brought of green web hosting cannot be overlooked. It is an effective way of driving down the costs of running business, as renewable energy is way too cheaper and more efficient than grid drawn electricity. Global warming is a world wide concern. The use of green web hosting is a sure way to attract environmentally conscious customers.