Why GreenByte
Journalists, civil society groups and energy agencies report that large data centers use water and electricity in drought-stricken regions and leave few local benefits. GreenByte exists so your website doesn’t add to the problem.
The data centers behind the internet and artificial intelligence use more electricity every year and cluster in places like Querétaro, Mexico, where water is scarce. GreenByte is a Mexican green web host: the Eco-Lite plan runs in off-grid, solar-powered homes, the other plans in a datacenter running on 100% renewable energy, sites are set up to transfer less data, and no supplier belongs to the war industry.
The numbers
Sources
Most sources are in Spanish. We summarize each one in our own words; figures are as reported by each outlet or institution, and we recommend reading them in full.
Featured story
La Jornada ·
Based on an Oxfam study, La Jornada reports that data centers built in Mexico cause more harm than progress in the towns where they operate: pressure on water and electricity, tax breaks for the companies and few permanent jobs for local people.
Read on La Jornada ↗Oxfam México y Oxfam Intermón ·
The report documents how the arrival of data centers in Colón and El Marqués, Querétaro, coincides with water and power supply failures in local communities, and describes a new digital extractivism that shifts environmental and social costs onto residents.
Read on Oxfam México y Oxfam Intermón ↗Expansión ·
Querétaro hosts more data centers than any other Mexican state and is one of the most water-stressed. Cooling technologies that save electricity tend to increase water use, and neighboring communities such as Viborillas only get water a few days a week.
Read on Expansión ↗Agencia Internacional de Energía (IEA) ·
The International Energy Agency estimates that data center electricity use grew 17% in 2025 and will nearly double by 2030. Use by AI-focused data centers would triple over the same period.
Read on Agencia Internacional de Energía (IEA) ↗CLIP y N+ Focus ·
A cross-border investigation into how Microsoft, Amazon, Google and other companies set up in Querétaro from 2020 with support from the state government, while drought and blackouts worsened in nearby communities.
Read on CLIP y N+ Focus ↗Sources reviewed on September 29, 2026.
Our answer
We are not against data centers. We are against communities paying their cost. That’s why we care about where your site lives, how much energy it uses and who we work with.
The Eco-Lite plan runs on reused computers in off-grid homes with solar panels, organized as a cooperative. It doesn’t depend on large data centers. Today traffic comes in through a gateway on a conventional server, and we’re working to move it to solar power too.
Meet the cooperativeOur other plans live in an environmentally certified, third-party audited datacenter where the whole building runs on renewable energy. Every server has its proof of renewable energy; without it, it doesn’t go into service.
See plansWe set up caching and modern image formats from day one so every visit transfers less data. Our free calculator lets you measure the emissions of any website.
Calculate my site’s CO₂No company tied to armed conflict is our supplier or partner: no weapons makers, no defense contractors, no one financing the arms trade.
Read our pledgeThey use large amounts of water to cool their equipment and electricity to run. Oxfam estimates a single large data center can use up to 19 million liters of water a day. In Querétaro, where they cluster, communities in Colón and El Marqués report water and power supply failures.
Because of its proximity to Mexico City, low earthquake risk, connectivity and state government incentives. The problem is that Querétaro is one of Mexico’s most water-stressed states and spent 2024 and 2025 with over 90% of its territory in drought.
It is web hosting that runs on renewable energy and aims to reduce each site’s environmental impact. At GreenByte that means servers with verified renewable energy, sites set up to transfer less data and, on the Eco-Lite plan, hosting in off-grid, solar-powered homes.
It depends on the plan. Eco-Lite runs in off-grid homes in our cooperative, without large data centers. The other plans live in a certified datacenter running on 100% renewable energy. GreenByte doesn’t operate that datacenter: we host our servers there.
With GreenByte’s free calculator. Enter your site’s address and we estimate its emissions per visit, based on Green Web Foundation’s Sustainable Web Design model, with tips to reduce them.
Pick a renewable-powered plan, or first measure how much your current site emits.