Green search engines?

In 2005, a company called Heap Media created a website called Blackle. It is a version of the Google search engine displayed on a screen which is predominantly black. The theory: the black screen uses less energy than the typical white Google screen and, therefore, is a "greener" way to search the Internet. This is interesting, but it is unclear whether it really works to conserve energy or not. You're going to have to read up and come to your own conclusion. Some studies say that the black screen only reduces energy use if you are using a CRT (cathode-ray tube) monitor - those are the old, glass-screen monitors that you probably had with your Commodore 64 back in the good ol' days. Most monitors these days are LCD (liquid crystal display) and may actually use MORE energy to display the black screen. Blackle's one redeeming quality is their belief that, if Blackle is your homepage, it will serve as a reminder every time you open your Internet browser that you should be thinking about saving energy, and perhaps this will motivate you to do the little things to save energy and help the environment.

My opinion? Don't use Blackle (or any of its various spin-offs like Black-Google and Blackoogle) unless you have a CRT monitor, which you probably don't. And if you're reading this blog, you probably don't need the helpful reminder to save energy!

Here are just a few of the many people who have weighed in on the debate:
http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/does-a-darkened-google-really-save-electricity-104/
http://realworldgreen.com/2007/08/09/blackle-does-it-really-save-energy/
http://ad1987.blogspot.com/2007/07/save-energy-with-blackle.html
http://blog.businessgreen.com/2007/07/blackle-correct.html