Europe’s Second Largest Web Host Goes Carbon Neutral. Sun helps.

Wow.

STRATO, Europe’s second largest web host, is becoming the first company to power its high performance computer centres entirely with renewable energy. From January 2008 STRATO data centres will be 100% C02 free, enabling STRATO to reduce its CO2 emissions by approximately 15,000 tons per year.

I first met the folks from Strato as alpha customers for Sun’s lower pow consumption Niagara/T1-based multicore servers. The company data center is based on the banks of the Rhine, which gets really hot in summer.  But how do you keep servers cool when its hot outside? One method is to build a state of the art air cooling system, which Strato is doing.

I love the fact Strato has done the maths, and decided to pay more for carbon-neutral electricity, knowing its going to save enough in other areas to more than compensate for the slightly lower margin.  I haven’t talked to them about this yet, butI see a follow up and some RedMonkTV in our future.