Does it sound like a mission impossible or a PR-coup to you? It’s not. Strato has already proven that they mean serious by having reduced its energy usage with 30 % per customer in the past 18 months.

In an interview with The Register the CEO of Strat, Damien Schmidt, said that “while people may be more aware of reducing their individual carbon footprint, it was also important for tech firms to “look behind the screen” and consider the sizable, carbon-munching emissions spat out by IT equipment.”

Green Blog is happy to see that more and more web host companies are taking their responsibility by going green and wish Strato the best of luck.

http://www.strato.de

Fujitsu Siemens Computers says that their brand new tower server Primergy TX120 is the most energy efficient server in the world. Primergy TX120 is said to consume 40% less energy than conventional tower servers. The Primergy TX120 is also one-third the size and makes half the noise (producing 28dB while idling and 31dB in operation).

TX120 uses a redesigned heat pipe air cooling system. Although previous systems have used heat pipe cooling, reducing the size of the unit required a new component alignment strategy. In the TX120 all heat producing components, CPU, chipsets, etc, are strictly aligned along a linear heat pipe. Two small temperature controlled fans also sit either side of the pipe in a push-pull arrangement. Another benefit of the heat pipe is it enables the user to choose either vertical or horizontal server installation. Unlike water cooling used in some small servers, heat pipe provides similar quiet operation, requires fewer components, and with no potential leakage problems is more reliable.

According to Fujitsu Siemens Computers the use of TX120 instead of a larger tower server can reduce CO2 emissions by the equivalent of planting 31 cedar trees per year.

With green web hosts I mean hosting companies that power their servers with renewable energy such as wind and solar power. Some of these green web hosts generate their own energy via renewable energy sources. Other web hosts offers carbon offsetting, discounts to non profits, letting their employees telecommute, etc.

Please check out our Green Web Host page for a more up-to-date list on Green Web Hosting Alternatives.

• WebCtel – Solar powered hosting
• SolarWebWorks – Solar powered hosting
• EcoSky – Both wind and solar powered hosting
• The Green Web Host – Mostly wind but other energy sources too
• Locomotive Media – Wind powered hosting
• Elfon – Wind powered hosting
• SustainableMarketing – Wind powered hosting
• Aiso – Solar powered hosting
• Dreamhost – Insure that the power they use is generated in an ecofriendly manner. This is typically wind or solar, but it could also be biogas or geothermal.
• Acorn Host – Sustainable growth, Non-profit discounts and purchases Green Certificates. Green-blog.org uses Acorn host and we are so far very happy with the service.
• Green WebHost – Solar powered, paperless and will also plant a tree on your behalf.
• Athenaeum – Solar powered hosting
• Ilisys – Solar and wind powered hosting. Will also plant a tree on your behalf.

So which host should you choose then? Which is the best? I am sorry but I can’t tell you which host is the best because I haven’t tested all of them. You should always do a background check on any host you are interested in. See if they got some testimonials from customers. But any of these web hosts are better than your current one that isn’t doing anything at all to prevent global warming.