What Is Green Web Hosting? 6 Best Providers in the UK

The Internet Has a Carbon Problem

The internet feels invisible. There are no chimneys. No exhaust fumes. No smoke stacks. Yet the infrastructure that keeps it running is anything but clean.
Every website sits on a physical server. That server lives inside a data centre. That data centre draws power around the clock to run hardware and cool it down. Most of that power still comes from burning fossil fuels.

The numbers are difficult to ignore. The digital sector now accounts for roughly 3.7 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. That is comparable to the entire aviation industry. Global data centres alone consumed an estimated 536 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2025, roughly two percent of the world's total electricity use. With the growth of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing, that figure is expected to double by the end of the decade.

A single website with 10,000 monthly page views can produce over 100 kilograms of CO2 equivalent each year. That is comparable to driving a car 700 kilometres. Multiply that across billions of websites and the scale of the problem becomes clear.

This is not a future concern. It is a present one.

What Is Green Web Hosting?

Green web hosting, also referred to as green website hosting, is a hosting service that prioritises environmental responsibility. The core principle is straightforward. Instead of drawing power from fossil fuel sources, green hosts use renewable energy to run their servers and data centres.

There are several ways a hosting provider can achieve this.

Direct renewable energy. Some providers power their data centres directly with solar, wind or hydroelectric energy. This is the foundation of genuine green energy web hosting and the most impactful approach.

Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGOs). Providers purchase certificates that guarantee an equivalent amount of renewable energy has been fed back into the national grid to match their consumption.

Carbon offsetting. Some hosts invest in reforestation, rewilding or carbon capture projects to compensate for emissions they cannot eliminate. This is the least direct method but still contributes to the broader goal.

Energy-efficient infrastructure. Beyond the energy source, green hosts often invest in efficient cooling systems, low-power hardware and autoscaling technology that reduces energy waste during periods of low demand.

The best providers combine several of these approaches. They also publish their Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) rating. PUE measures how efficiently a data centre uses energy. The closer to 1.0, the better. The industry average sits around 1.5 to 1.6. Leading green hosts operate at 1.2 or below.

Green web hosting UK data centre powered by renewable energy

How to Check if a Website Uses Green Hosting

There are two reliable tools worth bookmarking.

The Green Web Foundation

The Green Web Foundation is an independent non-profit that has been working towards a fossil-free internet since 2006. Their goal is ambitious but clear: make the entire internet free of fossil fuels by 2030.

They maintain the world's largest open dataset of websites running on green energy. Their free Green Web Check tool lets anyone enter a URL and find out whether the hosting behind it uses verified renewable energy sources.

They also maintain a searchable Green Web Directory of verified green hosting providers, filtered by country and service type.

Visit Website

thegreenwebfoundation.org

Carbon Calculator

The Website Carbon Calculator estimates how much CO2 a web page produces per visit. It cross-references the Green Web Foundation database to check if the hosting uses green energy web hosting or standard fossil fuel sources.

The tool updated to version four of the Sustainable Web Design Model in mid-2025, providing more accurate and transparent calculations. It breaks down emissions across four segments: the data centre, the network, the user device and hardware involved. Good for anyone looking to understand and reduce the environmental footprint of a website.

Visit Website

websiteemissions.com

6 Best Green Web Hosting Providers in the UK

Switching to green hosting does not require a compromise on performance, uptime or support. These six providers deliver strong hosting services while running on renewable energy.

1. Krystal

100% Renewable

Krystal is a UK-based hosting provider powered entirely by renewable electricity, verified through REGO certificates. In 2023, Krystal became the world's first certified B Corp web hosting and public cloud provider. That certification requires meeting rigorous standards across governance, workers, community and the environment.

Their London and Amsterdam data centres operate at a PUE of 1.2 or below. They reinvest a portion of revenue into reforestation and clean energy projects through partnerships with Trees for Life, Ecologi and Veritree.

Krystal uses a LiteSpeed Enterprise server stack, which delivers strong performance for WordPress and WooCommerce sites. Their managed hosting plans include staging environments, daily backups, free SSL and built-in caching.

BEST FOR

Businesses and e-commerce sites that want verified green credentials alongside strong performance.

2. Kualo

100% Renewable

Kualo is a London-based hosting provider with over 20 years of experience. Their data centres run entirely on renewable energy and follow energy-saving best practices.

They power over 100,000 websites across 90 countries and have built a reputation for reliable customer support, with staff trained to deliver cutting-edge hosting solutions. Their network blend includes premium providers such as NTT, Virgin Media and Cogent, with peering through LINX alongside members like BT and Google.

Kualo offers shared, WordPress, VPS and reseller hosting, making it a flexible option for agencies and developers managing multiple client sites.

BEST FOR

Agencies and developers looking for a well-established UK green host with a strong support team.

3. SiteGround

SiteGround has made significant progress on sustainability in recent years. Their platform runs on Google Cloud infrastructure, which operates on matched renewable energy. Google has committed to running all of its data centres on carbon-free energy around the clock by 2030.

SiteGround's managed WordPress hosting includes a proprietary caching system, free CDN, automatic daily backups and a free email migration tool. Their anti-bot technology and web firewall provide strong security out of the box.

One of their more practical features is the Add Collaborators tool, which allows multiple people to manage a site without sharing login credentials. This is useful for agencies working with clients or subcontractors.

BEST FOR

WordPress users who want a global hosting platform backed by Google's renewable energy commitments.

4. 20i

100% Renewable

20i is a UK-based hosting provider founded in 2016 by brothers Tim and Jonathan Brealey, who previously founded 123 Reg and Heart Internet. All of their hosting is powered by 100 percent renewable energy, and their data centres operate with a PUE of 1.2.

Their headquarters in Nottinghamshire run on 2,088 solar panels. The office operates paperless, recycles all waste and uses automatic LED lighting. Staff are encouraged to work from home to reduce commuting emissions.

What sets 20i apart technically is their autoscaling platform. When a website experiences a traffic spike, it can draw resources from their entire hosting infrastructure rather than being limited to a single server. When traffic drops, the site uses fewer resources. This reduces energy waste and improves performance simultaneously.

20i offer shared, WordPress, reseller and cloud hosting. They are a particularly strong option for agencies and resellers who need to manage large numbers of client sites from a single dashboard.

BEST FOR

Agencies, resellers and businesses that need scalable green hosting with a UK-based support team.

5. Hosting.com (A2 Hosting)

Hosting.com is the new identity of A2 Hosting, which rebranded in April 2025 following its acquisition by World Host Group. The company was originally founded in 2001 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and built a strong reputation over more than two decades for performance-focused WordPress hosting.

The rebrand brought expanded infrastructure. Hosting.com now operates across 13 data centres worldwide, up from the original four under A2 Hosting. Their approach to sustainability centres on carbon offsetting and energy-efficient hardware rather than direct renewable energy sourcing. They use high-efficiency cooling systems, super-insulated data centres and have committed to moving towards 100 percent renewable energy over time.

Hosting.com offers shared, managed WordPress, VPS, dedicated and reseller hosting. Their LiteSpeed server stack and built-in caching deliver strong page speeds. They also remain an active sponsor within the WordPress community.

BEST FOR

WordPress users and developers who want a globally distributed hosting platform with strong performance and a growing sustainability commitment.

6. Cloudways (Digital Ocean)

Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform that lets users deploy sites on infrastructure from providers such as Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, AWS and Vultr. Its green credentials come primarily through these cloud partners. Google Cloud, for example, has committed to running on carbon-free energy around the clock by 2030. DigitalOcean has also made progress on energy efficiency and sustainability across its data centres.

Beyond its partners, Cloudways has established a tree-planting initiative through a partnership with One Tree Planted, contributing to global reforestation efforts. Their platform is built around a pay-as-you-go model, which naturally reduces resource waste. Sites only consume the server resources they actually need.

Cloudways is particularly well suited to agencies and developers who want full control over their server stack without managing the underlying infrastructure. The platform supports WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento and Laravel, with built-in staging, automated backups and server cloning.

BEST FOR

Agencies and developers who want flexible cloud hosting with the option to choose green infrastructure partners like Digital Ocean.

Why Switch to Green Hosting?

There are several strong reasons to consider switching to green website hosting. From reducing emissions to improving performance, the benefits go beyond environmental responsibility.

Environmental impact

The most obvious reason. Green hosting directly reduces the carbon emissions associated with running a website. For a business that operates online, this is one of the simplest and most immediate steps towards reducing its environmental footprint.

Brand credibility

Sustainability is no longer a niche concern. Clients, customers and partners increasingly expect the businesses they work with to take environmental responsibility seriously. Hosting a website on green infrastructure is a tangible, verifiable commitment that can be communicated clearly.

Performance

Many green hosting providers have invested heavily in modern, energy-efficient infrastructure. This often translates directly into faster load times, better uptime and stronger Core Web Vitals scores.

Future readiness

Regulatory pressure on digital sustainability is increasing. The UK has committed to net-zero emissions by 2050. The EU has introduced the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. According to Carbon Brief, data centres are one of the few sectors where emissions are set to grow rather than decline. Mandatory energy performance reporting for UK data centres is already under discussion. Businesses that switch to green hosting now are ahead of the curve rather than playing catch-up.

Cost

Green hosting does not necessarily cost more. Renewable energy sources and energy-efficient hardware can reduce operating costs for hosting providers. Many pass those savings on to customers. In several cases, green hosting plans are priced competitively with conventional alternatives.

Green energy web hosting server infrastructure

CO2 output of the internet and data centres

A Small Change With a Large Impact

Switching to a green web host takes less than a day. Most providers offer free migration. The performance difference is often positive. The environmental benefit is immediate and ongoing.

The internet is not going to shrink. The number of websites, the volume of data and the demand for always-on digital services will continue to grow. The question is not whether the hosting industry needs to become more sustainable. It is whether individual businesses choose to be part of that shift now or later.

If the website is already due for a hosting review, this is a straightforward place to start. Check the current host against the Green Web Foundation's database. Run the site through the Website Carbon Calculator. Choosing the best green web hosting provider depends on whether the business prioritises direct renewable energy or is comfortable with carbon offsetting. Compare the results with what the providers listed above can offer.

The infrastructure behind a website is invisible to visitors. But the environmental impact of that infrastructure is not. If a new website or a rebuild is on the horizon, it is worth considering green hosting from the start. Book a Call to discuss how it fits into the project.

What Is Green Web Hosting? 6 Best Providers in the UK

When choosing a web host, speed, uptime and price tend to dominate the decision. The environmental impact rarely gets a mention. It should. This guide covers what green web hosting is, why it matters and which green web hosting UK providers are leading the way.

The Internet Has a Carbon Problem