An all-black Google home page would save 750 megawatt-hours of electricity a year
If your interested in saving energy where you can, you just might want to check this out. By choosing Blackle as your homepage or search engine you could save 750 megawatt hours of electricity a year. I like the look of the black search page.
750 megawatt-hours can power for an entire year:
-- 77 North American homes
-- 150 European homes
-- 268 African homes
-- 536 Asian or South American homes
-- 3,750 homes in Afghanistan
-- 6,000 televisions
-- 800 microwaves
An Australian company called Heap Media created a Google-powered site called blackle.com. The site keeps a running total of the number of watts saved to date.
Compiled information from gimundo.com, blackle.com, Heap Media and various blogs all over the internet. (Google "Blackle" and you'll see what I mean)
The below information is from Heap Media on their Blackle webpage.
How is Blackle saving energy?Blackle was created by Heap Media to remind us all of the need to take small steps in our everyday lives to save energy. Blackle searches are powered by Google Custom Search.
Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black.
In January 2007 a blog post titled Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year proposed the theory that a black version of the Google search engine would save a fair bit of energy due to the popularity of the search engine. Since then there has been skepticism about the significance of the energy savings that can be achieved and the cost in terms of readability of black web pages.
We believe that there is value in the concept because even if the energy savings are small, they all add up. Secondly we feel that seeing Blackle every time we load our web browser reminds us that we need to keep taking small steps to save energy.
How can you help?We encourage you to set Blackle as your home page ( set ). This way every time you load your Internet browser you will save a little bit of energy. Remember every bit counts! You will also be reminded about the need to save energy each time you see the Blackle page load.
Help us spread the word about Blackle by telling your friends and family to set it as their home page. If you have a blog then give us a mention. Or put the following text in your email signature: "Blackle.com - Saving energy one search at a time".
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Comments: 35
On my home PC I have it set to power off after hours.
Did you know that a computer still draws 40% of it's "on" power when it is turned off? Fixing the problem is easy, simply unplug the machine, or turn off it's power strip when you go to bed. Easier than pie!
do you unplug all your cords in the house when not in use...even when turned off most will draw current and waste energy.If you leave your cell phone and battery chargers plunged in when not in use they alone can add $4. a month to your electric bill!I do a am turn off(my days are nights and nights are days..............as I CAN and I use far less energy in my weird life style. since I use nothing to heat up my house in the daytime I barely need the air on black out curtains keep the sun from heating my home up.......in the winter I flip back to a more natual schedual so the sun heats my home and the wonderful smell of bread's baking in the oven helps heat the home also..I have lots of fresh frozen baked goods for summer so I dont need oven at all then
http://techlogg.com/content/view/317/31/
(less light needed)
I was unaware about the unplugging chargers until just recently. (GREAT TIP!)
(no one else goes my way)
Am I using blackle? No, it looks cool but I turn my monitor off and pc each night.
You could use 30% LESS energy in your home just by using energy more wisely and purchasing products with the ENERGY STAR label.
Replacing your current incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs will save you nearly $30 over the life of each bulb. (I have done this already)
I use an ENERGY STAR refrigerator.(and dishwasher)
(ENERGY STAR refrigerators have better insulation and efficient motors)
On my dishwasher I use the energy-saver wash cycle. (and often use the dishwasher for a drying rack.
But...where I live (inland) gets really hot. So my air conditioner is often on. At night I do set it to low cool. (thats as low as I can have it without it turning off) :-)
Turning off your computer might be the best way to save energy.
maybe now I can rest a little....lol
(it only take a minute to start up)
I will start unplugging things also.
I did not know that either....oops
We do pretty well on conserving energy, all of our appliances are Energy Star, lights are turned off, the tv is rarely on, etc.