Web hosting company Strato has confirmed it will source all of its energy from renewable sources from next year, as part of a new climate change strategy that it insists will have no impact on prices for its one million customers.

Chief executive Damian Schmidt said that an 18-month datacentre project had already cut the firm's energy footprint by 30 per cent, but argued that with the amount of data held on the internet doubling every four months, the company needed to decarbonise its energy supply to genuinely limit its environmental impact.

"The level of energy savings means that we can afford to pay the premium for renewable energy and not increase the price for customers," he added.

Schmidt dismissed concerns that in buying energy from renewable sources the company was simply depriving other customers from the energy and having little direct impact on carbon emissions, insisting that its contract with German hydroelectricity specialist NaturEnergie included a commitment that the energy provider would invest in increasing the capacity of its turbines on the River Rhine.

He also insisted that despite the imminent slashing of the company's carbon footprint, Strato would continue to invest in cutting the 30Gw of energy it consumes each year.

"We still have to do everything we can on the energy saving side as even the production of renewable energy has environmental impacts," he explained.

The deal with NaturEnergie will also see Strato offer its 480 employees the opportunity to buy renewable energy at a preferential rate. Schmidt said the scheme will be launched next month and will see NaturEnergie offer Strato staff a fixed price guarantee for the next two years and a rebate on the one-time fees for switching supplier.