We are proud to be the first large web host who relies solely on renewable energy. 1&1 now utilise wind, water and solar power in accordance with the Renewable Energy Certification System (RECS). In our European data centres, we currently run some 40,000 servers which consume between 50 and 60 GWh per year. Hence, by switching to environmentally friendly energy we can significantly contribute to environmental protection. In addition to 1&1’s data centres, two large office buildings (in Karlsruhe, Germany) with 1,300 employees are supplied with renewable energy.

Within 1&1’s data centres in Germany, 1&1 hosts data from customers in the UK, Germany, France and Spain as well as from the email providers GMX and WEB.DE, whose customers will now use ‘Green mailboxes’.

We use energy efficiently

“We not only desire clean energy, but we also want to use as little energy as possible,” says Achim Weiss. “Thus, for example, for many years we have been using highly efficient power supplies with less than 20 per cent heat loss and omit any unnecessary components within our servers. As soon as the outside temperature falls below 10 degrees, we cool our data centre using open-air coolers and that works without energy-eating compressors”. Software too, can help save electrical power – Based on a Linux platform, 1&1 has developed its own operating system that enables the data of up to 10,000 customers fit on one server and thus saves valuable resources. Next year, 1&1 also plans to switch its US-based data centres to renewable energy.