click to see the example rendered live
Heap Media has created a black-screen search engine powered by Google. It's called Blackle and it has the same functions as the white version, but with lower energy consumption.
According to a 2002 Department of Energy study, a monitor uses about 20 percent more power to display a white screen (about 79 watts) than it does to display a black screen (about 59 watts). One blogger even postulated that if Google went dark, it would create a global savings of 3,000 Megawatt-hours a year, or $75,000.
One thing to note: this only affects Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors (think boxy, clunky, doorstop) and not the new liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors (think fancy, sleek, flat screen), which use far less energy despite the color being displayed.
If you're interested in reading more, Rising Phoenix Design has a highly informative web page devoted to their Blackback Web Theory program. Other ways to join the eGreen movement include:
- Using Blackle as your search engine of choice;
- Changing the background color of your blog, myspace, or web page to black;
- Trading in your old CRT monitor for a new, nifty LCD flatscreen.
More about Blackle
Labels: google, technology environmental
