{"id":8011,"date":"2022-04-22T08:58:08","date_gmt":"2022-04-22T07:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/?p=8011"},"modified":"2025-10-23T14:47:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T13:47:54","slug":"green-web-hosting-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/green-web-hosting-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"Why green web hosting matters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When it comes to surfing the net, one person\u2019s power usage may seem tiny. But it all adds up, especially when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/en\/ITU-D\/Statistics\/Pages\/stat\/default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">69% of the world uses the internet<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most people don\u2019t consider the massive infrastructure behind the networks that serve the modern web. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vast arrays of servers need to be powered and cooled so we\u2019re able to watch kitten gifs or upload pictures of our dinner\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here\u2019s some facts and figures about the internet\u2019s contribution to global warming:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The internet is responsible for <a href=\"https:\/\/theshiftproject.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Lean-ICT-Report_The-Shift-Project_2019.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">around 4%<\/a> of global greenhouse gas emissions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This is more than that produced by the <a href=\"https:\/\/atag.org\/facts-figures\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">airline industry: 2.05%<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This amounts to <a href=\"https:\/\/shift.com\/blog\/the-carbon-footprint-of-the-internet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">400 g of CO<sub>2<\/sub><\/a> emitted by every person on the planet<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Internet usage rises every year is, and is expected to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kgpco.com\/userfiles\/nokia_global_network_traffic_report_en.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rise by more than five times<\/a> from 2023 to 2033<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Video streaming \u2013 Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video etc. \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/theshiftproject.org\/app\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Press-kit_Climate-crisis_The-unsustainable-use-of-online-video.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">accounts for 60%<\/a> of global data traffic<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How much energy is required for\u2026?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The following figures are found in this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.energuide.be\/en\/questions-answers\/do-i-emit-co2-when-i-surf-the-internet\/69\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fantastic article by Energuide.be<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A data centre<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A single router uses 10 kW, and a large data centre could use 100 MW. That\u2019s 10% of the output of a thermal power station!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These figures are averages: 20i data centres have an ultra-efficient power usage efficiency of 1.2 and consume less power with no compromise to performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">An email<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.seedling.earth\/post\/whats-the-carbon-footprint-of-an-email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">A typical email emits around 0.3 g of CO<sub>2<\/sub><\/a> throughout its lifecycle. If you create and send 20 emails a day over a year, that\u2019s roughly 2.2 kg of CO<sub>2<\/sub> &#8211; the same emissions as a car travelling 15 km.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A web search<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s 0.3 Wh or 0.2 g of CO<sub>2<\/sub>. \u00a0It\u2019s been estimated that if you make the global average of 2.8 searches a day you\u2019d emit 190 g of equivalent CO<sub>2<\/sub> each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A further 0.24 Wh and 0.03 g CO\u2082 is added <a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyreview.com\/2025\/08\/21\/1122288\/google-gemini-ai-energy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">if the search results include AI summarie<\/a>s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Watching an hour of streaming TV<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It may be a nature documentary, but it doesn\u2019t help nature: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carbontrust.com\/resources\/carbon-impact-of-video-streaming\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">around 55g of CO<sub>2<\/sub><\/a> equivalent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">One year\u2019s web browsing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The average internet user spends about 3,230 hours online each year, generating roughly 229 kg of CO\u2082  &#8211; about the same climate impact as driving a typical car 1,390 km.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Other internet-related industries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Online shopping, while convenient, adds to the burden of the global supply chain. Plus there\u2019s the production and distribution of the devices that everyone uses to access the web.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then there\u2019s the manufacturing of all the internet infrastructure: data centres, cables, even sending up satellites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">20i green hosting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>What can we do to reduce our internet carbon footprint as individuals?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One small step would be to consider using a hosting provider who runs efficient data centres on renewable energy. If you want to check this for your hosting, look up your site at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegreenwebfoundation.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Green Web Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">20i\u2019s green <a href=\"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/web-hosting\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"16\" title=\"web hosting\">web hosting<\/a> is powered 100% renewable power: solar, wind and biofuel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By investing in our hosting, you\u2019re investing in our planet. You\u2019ll get better website performance without contributing to carbon use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>61% of consumers see sustainability as a key priority when choosing digital tools &amp; services, find out more in our exclusive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/green-survey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">green survey results<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/green-hosting\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/earth-day-2022-600px.png\" alt=\"20i web hosting: powered by 100% renewable energy.\" class=\"wp-image-8021\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/earth-day-2022-600px.png 600w, https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2022\/04\/earth-day-2022-600px-300x150.png.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2022\/04\/earth-day-2022-600px-370x185.png.webp 370w, https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2022\/04\/earth-day-2022-600px-270x135.png.webp 270w, https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2022\/04\/earth-day-2022-600px-570x285.png.webp 570w, https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2022\/04\/earth-day-2022-600px-150x75.png.webp 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Read more about our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/green-hosting\">green web hosting<\/a> or browse our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/wordpress-hosting\">WordPress Hosting<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/managed-hosting\">Managed Hosting<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/vps\">VPS<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When it comes to surfing the net, one person\u2019s power usage may seem tiny. But it all adds&hellip;","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[51,47],"tags":[50,81],"class_list":["post-8011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","category-web-hosting","tag-20i","tag-internet","cs-entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8011"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16924,"href":"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8011\/revisions\/16924"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}