Canada Launches First Green-Powered Internet Server

The first internet hosting service that is powered by renewable energy has been launched in Canada.

OTTAWA, Ontario, CA, 2001-09-21 [SolarAccess.com] The Canadian Association for Renewable Energies will use an internet server based in Calgary, Alberta. That province is the only one in Canada to have deregulated its energy sector, and the municipal utility in Calgary, ENMAX, offers a green power option that will supply the server. The electricity for the GREENMAX program comes from new wind turbines that have been installed along the Cowley Ridge windfarm, the second largest wind energy facility in Canada. The Vestas turbines are managed by Vision Quest Windelectric of Calgary. The association will host other associations and companies on the server, and a number of groups have signed up for the service that costs C$290 a year for a small site. Initial participants include the Earth Energy Society of Canada, the GreenHeat Partnership, The Renewables Organization, the Canadian Carpet Institute, Canadian Apparel Federation, and The Trans Group. The hosting service is also intended to be a source of revenue for the association, which charges a premium for non-members that administer their domains from the server. The certificate for green power will provide a credit for greenhouse gas emission reductions to the Canadian Association for Renewable Energies. The electricity from the turbines is certified as green power under Canada’s national EcoLogo program, and ENMAX has also certified its green power program under the same program. An internet server for the federal department of Environment Canada in Edmonton has used green power to run its internet server since 1997, as part of the department’s ‘Green Lane.’ The server only hosts government information.