Based on the premise that a black screen uses less energy than a white one, Blackle – a customised Google search engine – claims to save energy simply “because the screen is predominantly black”. The idea for the site was born from a 2007 blog post titled “Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year”, which suggested that a black version of the world’s favourite search engine would save a fair bit of energy and the fact that “a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen”.
Blackle’s only difference from Google is the fact that its background is black and the search results are displayed in white text. This makes the results harder to read, but allegedly saves power. However, a Wall Street Journal article ran the numbers and showed that Blackle is only beneficial on CRT monitors, but not on LCDs. Still, it’s an interesting concept and acts as a reminder that every small step towards saving energy can help.
Arguably related story:
Black Computers Are Faster!
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