I promise, we do not run our datacenter on grill charcoal ;-). Not to take the thread off-topic, however the green hosting issue is a marketing gimmick in my opinion, just like carbon offset economic theory proposed by Al Gore.

 

Obviously the datacenter and server power consumption and cooling is a major cost component for any IT centric business. The technology such as energy efficient AMD CPUs, power management, more efficient cooling units are always considered since they have direct impact on the bottom line. However, the gimmicky way the “green” is marketed does nothing but misleads environmentally sensitive individuals that feel good if their products or services are “certified green” regardless of the reality of things.

 

Bottom line is, anyone can buy a $10K carbon offset credit and include it on the marketing info to justify higher costs for products and services. Yes, there are some companies that install solar panels or use geothermal cooling, but those are few and usually cannot provide the capacity necessary to accommodate the demand. Please note, my rant is not directed at anyone in particular, just a personal opinion that’s all.