Treehugger - Latest Comments in Black Google Saves Energy

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

Shahaan — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 15:53:17 -0000

Black backgrounds displayed on LCD monitors DO NOT save power. This is because of the way LCD technology works: Basically, there is a layer of LCs, behind which there is a light source, and the default state of the LCs is in the "on" position, which lets through all the light from behind them. The "off" state that is required to display the black color on the screen is actually the one that uses more power because the LCD monitor has to use energy to physically turn all the LCs into the "off" position (blocking the light emitted from behind the LC layer) and hold them in that position. So, contrary to popular belief, it is actually the fully WHITE background that uses the least amount of power because all the LCs in the LCD monitor are in their natural "open" position which requires no extra power in which to hold the LCs.

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

Frank — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:26:39 -0000

I use Black Google Mobile at http://bGoog.com to get a longer battery life on my phone and to reduce my data usage. I use it in Firefox on my computer too! On the newer OLED based screens you can use over 4x less power having a black background instead of white! That Google blog post is out of date and does not account for all the OLED based devices that are in use now and growing fast in popularity. There is more information on this at http://bGoog.com/about. Blackle is not mobile friendly at all and delivers search results with a white background on my phone!

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

kishor — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:35:57 -0000

it is great, we should think for our mother earth's green clothes.

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

miranda bascetta — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:23:34 -0000

hey whats up people in new jersey

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

bSaves - Energy Saving Search — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:40:25 -0000

I prefer http://bSaves.com because it looks nicer

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

Elijah — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:51:40 -0000

Actually, Google responded to the claim and new studies have shown that an all black screen on an LCD display may actually increase energy consumption, so Blackle is self-defeating, and they're just in it for the hype

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

Roofing Guy — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:10:51 -0000

I suspect this is just a way for Blackle to make a buck.

If you search on Blackle, then click on the ads, Blackle gets a cut out of the deal.

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

Patrick Shoemaker — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:22:42 -0000

It looks like most of the posters here have figured out that a predominantly black background will have diminishing returns as more CRT monitors are replaced with LCDs. One might think that even this very small reduction in power use by the dwindling population of CRT monitors makes Blackle useful.

However, I haven't seen any comments about the back-end power usage of the servers that run Blackle. If one were to calculate the power usage of each server needed to support a given number of Blackle users, and compare it to the potential power savings based on the current distribution of CRT/LCD users of Blackle's services, I would expect Blackle to generate a net INCREASE in overall energy usage. Anyone care to take on the challenge?

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

magestik — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:27:03 -0000

The best site out there for this is called Vimle. The white version is at vimle.com and is best for people who prefer white, or use a newer LCD monitor. The black version is at b.vimle.com and is best for people who prefer black, or use an older CRT monitor to save energy. Vimle is as small as possible, conserving time/space/bandwidth and energy.

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

imaginationg web — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 08:30:23 -0000

There are around 17 different versions of “black google” online. The best one I’ve found is www.cleanblack.com. Cleanblack is the only version that allows you to change the text colors of the google search results. Try it yourself by going to www.cleanblack.com/theme/

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

geminihunter — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:26:05 -0000

There are around 25 different versions of “black google” online. The best one I’ve found is www.cleanblack.com. Cleanblack is the only version that allows you to change the text colors of the google search results. Try it yourself by going to www.cleanblack.com/theme/

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

Alice — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 06:26:48 -0000

Guys, all green initiatives are great. The more the better. Praise blackle for it is trying. I bet if 50% of people were trying like them, the world would be 100% carbon neutral today.

Although, I suggest you use gugl.me. Its colours are so much easy for your eyes. I have difficulty focusing on blackle's search screen, but the nice shine and contrasting colours of gugl.me are just what I was looking for.

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

Rolando — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:04:21 -0000

I think its a great idea but i use ecosmartsearch.com instead because its got a web,image,shopping search and more and the most amazing thing is it was made by a 13 year old boy!!!

and its cooler than blackle.

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:36:02 -0000

what they should simply do is reduce the amount of energy used by servers around the world maybe use the heat gievn off to heat council houses around the uk or something... would save alot

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

Vladislav Jankovych — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:42:11 -0000

I am working in Pearl Restaurant and we are using Blackle UK on every computers. It suit with our furniture design ;) and our associates are happy with it.

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

Pier — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:16:43 -0000

I've recently tested my LCD monitor to determine whether Blackle does infact save on energy. The results I got from my experiment did really surprise me as I've learnt that a black webpage is really an over lay of several individual colour layers thus requiring more energy.

In plain figures Blackle used 28Watts and Google used 27Watts. It's not that big of a difference but you can't make a claim if it's not true!

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

sandhya — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 02:04:34 -0000

if its going to save energy, why cant you make its background color black..

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

Michael — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 08:22:20 -0000

I saw the Google homepage change on Saturday - at first I thought it was a virus or something on my computer. the link to the explanation of why Google had gone wierd was kind hard to read - think they should've done some testing on it for the visually impaired as there was very little contrast between the text and the background.

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

Noneek — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 23:01:11 -0000

They do realise that a new google made website was made(using 59 watt) along with the original Google(using 7 watt) which is still being used. So they are actually wasting 133 watts now. Thats more than 1,300 mega-watt hours a year wasted. Way to go Blackle.........It's still cool looking though :)

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

Anonymous — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 12:28:53 -0000

well, its been done

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

Adam Smith — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 11:59:36 -0000

We are all going to be using more and more power in the future, and to believe otherwise contradicts everything we know and have experienced. Efficiency is a good thing, but we WILL use much more power. Anyone care to bet on this? Secondly, as someone who has studied climate change for a number of years, I'll tell you that it's 100% political and has no basis in fact. None. Zero. What really scares me how ignorant the public is about science. I find cannot explain anything the least bit scientific to anyone without getting the blank face of ignorance. It's no wonder we believe in such nonsense and not in the commonsense idea of producing more energy. If we keep heading towards this conservation route, gas is going to be $8 per gallon, and you'll HAVE to keep your lights turned off.

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

Anonymus — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 10:27:21 -0000

I think this should definatly be done just maybe with a different color other than white.

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

Michelle — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 10:23:55 -0000

I think that this is all a great idea. It saves engergy with a simple color change. I think google should deffenatly stay like this and maybe even other websites could do this too.

Athough i do agree that the white against black may be hard on some people's eyes, but the white backround is hard on the enviorment.

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

Tom — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 20:27:12 -0000

Googles now gone black :O

Re: Black Google Saves Energy

Jason — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:28:38 -0000

I've seen a few pages around which claim to help the environment in many ways, the main being - using a black screen energy consumption is reduced and therefore your "foot print" is reduced.

Personally I feel the savings are minimal and we need to take an additional more proactive approach. using http://www.regrowgle.com as a search portal does this. Any profits generated through searches on this site are actually reinvested into "green" projects such as forest regeneration. So in basic terms you are making positive changes to our world as you search. And the best this is - it costs you as a user - NOTHING!!

If for nothing else, at least give it a try and get your friends to have a go as well. There's nothing to loose, and a whole lot to gain.