Is Vultr's "green hosting" real or just marketing?

So last year I move my small wordpress to Vultr because they say "100% renewable energy hosting". Very nice price also. But now I want to know, is this real or just marketing? I ask support, they send me PDF with REC certificate. I dont can understand, is this same as real green electricity? Or just paper? My english not so good sorry. Thank you thank you.

I check their competitor RackNerd also have green badge but no detail. Slow-slow I learn this topic but still confuse. Anyone here can explain the difference? Wkwkwk thank you again.

What could go wrong: RECs are just accounting tricks! The electrons hitting your server are the same dirty grid mix as everyone else's. You're paying for a feel-good spreadsheet entry while the datacenter burns coal two blocks away.

WARNINGS:

• PPA = direct power purchase = slightly better but still grid-tied
• REC = unbundled = basically a donation to a wind farm in another state
• Either way your uptime depends on that grid, not the marketing

Also run fail2ban on your VPS. Green or not, the bots don't care.

@olespete the PPA thing, my friend at Hetzner they have direct solar PPA. The server will run same grid, yes, but the money flow different. This I think important.

# check your host's green claims
curl -s https://example.com/.well-known/green-disclosure | jq '.contract_type'

REC = two server can claim same electron. PPA = one server one contract. XD

My old host the green badge just carbon offset, $10 per year they spend. VERY different from PPA. I move to Hetzner after I find out. UPPERCATE ANGRY.

The real question is how much extra u pay for green badge

Receive a lot of "eco" hosts charging $8/mo when normal is $3.50. Definitely not worth imho

InterServer got $2.99 vps with rec offset. Hostinger $4.20 with "direct ppa" but cant verify. Im with cheapest one, dunno if green or not, dont care much

If Vultr price good and u happy, stay lah. If they scam u on uptime, then move

I dont trust PDFs they send anyone, got link to the actual REC registry?

Sorry for late reply, I was busy with work. Thank you all for explain to me.

Yes this is what I worry also. The PDF they send look very nice but I dont know is real or just print from internet.

This one I understand now, thank you. So Vultr maybe have REC only, not PPA. I will ask them direct but I think they will say same thing again.

I check the REC registry link? No they dont give, only PDF. I ask now.

Actually my english not good enough for this topic but I try lah. If anyone know host with real PPA in asia region please tell me. Price not so important, I want real green not fake green.

20 days but this is still useful

This is the clearest way I've seen it explained, thanks

@herebungkus if you want a quick check: ask Vultr whether their RECs are bundled with the power or bought separate on a market. Bundled means they come with the electricity purchase, unbundled means anyone can buy the certificate later without touching the power

Separate RECs are basically the $10 carbon offset situation, just fancier paperwork

Also did you ever solve the PDF thing? Some registries let you look up certificate serial numbers publicly, others don't

75 days, thread's basically compost now, but armstrongvds asked a real question

Most RECs trace back to either Green-e or APX. If Vultr won't give you a serial number you can punch into one of those databases, the PDF is just a PDF.

Real registries don't let two servers claim the same MWh. That's the whole point. Without a serial, you're trusting the host's word, and their word is written by marketing.

I still say it's all grid-tied electrons at the end of the day. But at least a serial number proves someone did the accounting honestly.

Hey @armstrongvds good question but 3 months quiet already, maybe herebungkus solved or gave up.

Anyway for registry: real REC got serial number you can check on Green-e or similar. Vultr PDF should have that number if legit. No number = big red flag.

This part I still disagree. Unbundled REC the money still goes to renewable project, just not "your" electron. The accounting is separate from physics, yes, but the money flow is real. Not same as carbon offset where they plant tree maybe never grow.

My Hetzner friend say their PPA price locked 15 years also, very different business model. But for small wordpress user like herebungkus, PPA host usually too expensive or not available in that region. REC is the realistic option, just need to check it is retired properly not double sell.

Anyone know if Vultr publish retired REC list? That is the real transparency.

95 days, guess everyone moved on but I had the same question last year

This is the right thing to ask, I chased Vultr for mine and the registry link checked out (Green-e if you're in the US, similar elsewhere)

Thing is even with a valid REC the server is still on the same grid as olespete said, so "100% renewable" is marketing speak for "we bought enough credits" not "your bits only touch clean electrons"

I ended up staying with them because the price was right and at least the money goes somewhere useful, but I stopped telling people my site is green hosted because that's a stretch

Has anyone actually switched hosts over this or is it all just vibes