Wind Power and Web Hosting
The United States of America is a progressive country, and while we are not leading the way in green building and other environmentally friendly initiatives, we are making improvements.
Improvements in Wind Energy within the United States
The Senate Finance Committee recently passed a tax extenders bill called "The Family and Business Tax Cut Certainty Act of 2012", which includes an extension of both the renewable energy production tax credit for utility-scale wind power and investment tax credit for community and offshore wind power.
These extensions will drive the growth of American wind industry manufacturing jobs and billions of dollars in private investment in homegrown energy.
Clearly, wind power cannot immediately replace the energy we must generate from the oil and gas produced on the outer continental shelf. And it is apparent that America's previous unwillingness to clear the way for permitting a proven, commercially scalable, clean source of energy is a major black eye for a nation that wants to be a leader in technological development. The "Family and Business Tax Cut Certainty Act of 2012" is geared towards improving our position as a renewable energy leader and increase our placement in the race towards energy independence.
Texas is a Leader in Wind Power
Texas holds the distinction of being home to the two largest wind farms in the word. And the capital of the great state of Texas is Austin - the greenest city in the entire world. The largest wind farm in the world is located in Roscoe Texas, followed by the second largest wind farm located in Nolan County, Texas. Texans are proud of the fact that our great state is leading the way in wind power generation as a renewable energy source.
Offshore Wind Farms Hold Great Potential for Power
Although the United States is a leader in land-based wind farms, we are falling behind in off-shore wind power. In a interesting twist of irony, at the same time of the BP oil disaster in the Gulf, there were over 1,000 wind turbines generating clean, renewable electricity off the coastlines of northwestern Europe. But not a single windmill yet turns in the strong, abundant winds that overflow the shores of the United States.
The Internet, Web Hosting and Wind Power
The world wide web (W3) is a vast frontier for those within whom the web-preneurial spirit burns brightly. For obvious reasons, the Internet is dependent on electricity. The world wide web runs on electricity, though we don't usually think about it. But the fact is, without electricity you wouldn't be reading this. Fortunately, however, the Internet and the web hosting industry are moving toward a more sustainable existence due to the data center industry facing growing pressure to integrate renewable energy sources, such as wind energy, into data center projects. Any initiative to drive increased resources to build offshore wind farms will require tolerance and acceptance from stakeholders and growing pressure from businesses as well as groups with enormous political weight.
Web Hosting and Energy
Hosting is a commodity on the web. You or I can buy space from a web host and open up our own hosting company. The mother host provides all the tools and support you need to build your own hosting company in the basement office. (The one that floods occasionally. Ooops.) A web host can be a kid down the street or it can be a huge, physical plant with chip heads tending to racks of servers, customer support taking calls from subscribers and office people tending to routine business matters - like paying the electric company.
Quality Web Hosting
There are free web hosts, low-ball web hosts and quality web hosts that deliver a satchel of freebies for less than $10 a month - the cost of a couple of fast food lunches.
Now, you could go with a freebie but, as in all things, you get what you pay for. Free web hosting companies place their ads on your site, and you have no control over what's going to appear. In fact, the host may actually place ads for competitors on YOUR free web site. So NOT cool.
The bottom line is your bottom line. Web hosting is a highly competitive market segment. There are thousands of hosts from which to choose. But a quality hosting company is based on a client-centric corporate culture, recognizing that the success of its clients will, in the end, determine the success of the web host. It's just, plain smart business.
The Growth of the Internet = More Demand for Electricity
There are close to 130 million web sites on line at the moment and every day, 6,000 new web sites launch, creating entrepreneurs by the thousands. The world wide web is a great way to take control of your professional life (you're the boss) or to add a few bucks to your household income each month while you keep your day job.
Traditional hosts add to the demand for more energy by cooling servers with cold air. The server room in a hosting company is kept cool - so cool you could probably store sides of beef in there if the racks of servers didn't take up so much space. That cooling requires energy and plenty of it.
Green Hosting = Your Competitive Advantage
More and more people use the web to make purchases, comparison shop, find directions to a local business or even buy their groceries on the web, the fastest growing marketplace ever. Given the number of options web users have, as a business owner or webmaster, you are actually asking site visitors to do you a favor - to visit your web site and purchase your products or opt-in to your newsletter. And web visitors are more likely to perform a favor for you if you establish trust on your web site by demonstrating your responsibility.
Wind Power
Companies that implement the use of nature-friendly renewable resources are reducing environmental deterioration, and this can be a badge of honor. Customers recognize the impact that the use of nature-friendly renewable resources have on the environment and are taking notice. When it comes to environment, businesses recognize that to be a part of the solution is not only good for the environment but also good for their bottom line. From large corporate hotel chains to small or medium sized businesses such as a local diving outlet, many companies are now advertising their green credentials.
Wind power is plentiful, renewable and relatively affordable. Wind power does not produce emissions. By choosing to utilize renewable energy whenever possible, corporations are building goodwill while at the same time helping the environment.
