Understanding website carbon footprints: How does your energy provider rank?
Although it is hard to imagine, the internet has a vast carbon footprint – estimated to be nearly 4% of all global carbon emissions.
And each and every website that you visit contributes in some way to that figure.
In this article, we explain why the internet has a carbon footprint, what we’ve done to make our website green, and how it compares with other energy companies’.
Why do websites have a carbon footprint?
Every website on the internet has a carbon footprint which comes from three main sources:
- Manufacturing and running the devices you use to surf the internet.
- Building and maintaining the transmission networks that provide WIFI and 4G coverage.
- Powering the data centres that host each and every web page.
The average website produces 60kg of carbon emissions per year…
…that’s equivalent to an average car driving 270 miles.
And collectively, global internet usage produces carbon emissions similar to the aviation industry.
How much carbon does our website emit?
When it came to redesigning the Good Energy website, keeping its carbon emissions as low as possible was one of our main priorities. We think this reflects what our customers expect from us as a renewable energy company.
Working with sustainable website agency Wholegrain Digital, here are some of the things we have put in place to keep our website emissions lower than 86% of other sites.
- The data centre that hosts our site is powered by 100% renewable electricity.
- Our website uses compressed images, reduced video and lightweight fonts – this brings our average page size down to 30% of the global average.
- We’ve built the site with simple web architecture, and use clean code and simple file formats.
- Each page has a website carbon badge in the corner to raise awareness.
“Good Energy’s website runs on 100% sustainable energy, and each page has a low carbon footprint.“
Luke Berte, Wholegrain Digital
“When creating the site, we undertook a thorough discovery process to get to the heart of what Good Energy’s domestic consumers need from their site.
One of the direct outputs was a cleaner, simpler information architecture. In addition to making it easier for customers to find what they’re looking for, this has the benefit of bringing the website’s carbon footprint down.
Good for people and the planet.”
Luke Berte, Wholegrain Digital
How does Good Energy’s website compare to other energy suppliers?
It might surprise you which energy companies have the cleanest websites.
Using websitecarbon.com, we discovered that after Good Energy, the energy company with the next cleanest website is British Gas. While the company’s website is hosted on a data centre powered by the standard UK fuel mix, it’s efficient design and clean code make it cleaner than 79% of other tested webpages.
On the other end of the spectrum is Scottish Power, Octopus Energy and Ovo which are dirtier than 86%, 68% and 65% of tested webpages.
Here’s how they all rank:
| Energy provider | Ranking | Powered by |
| Good Energy | Greener than 86% | Renewables |
| British Gas | Greener than 79% | Standard |
| Green Energy UK | Greener than 73% | Renewables |
| EDF | Greener than 67% | Standard |
| E.On | Dirtier than 51% | Renewables |
| Ecotricity | Dirtier than 60% | Standard |
| Ovo Energy | Dirtier than 65% | Standard |
| Octopus Energy | Dirtier than 68% | Renewables |
| Scottish Power | Dirtier than 86% | Renewables |
Website carbon footprint should be a key consideration for all companies, particularly ones that provide digital customer service. At Good Energy, we’ve taken proactive steps to minimise our website’s carbon emissions; and would encourage other suppliers to do the same as we transition to a net zero economy.
