Once you go Blackle…

Blackle.com creator Toby Heap is earning thousands of dollars per day with his purported energy saving “black Google”. Does it matter if his calculations are wrong?

Blackle, a search engine powered by Google, was launched following a blog post by environmentalist Mark Ontkush, who conducted research to show that monitors draw more power to display white than black. Because the highest trafficked site on the web, search giant Google, is an all-white design, Heap decided to create a black Google, which would save an estimated 750 Megawatt hours per year.

Since then, Heap has been criticised by the media for cashing in on “eco-guilt” (he makes money from AdSense ads displayed on his site) and techies who argue that black draws more power for modern LCD monitors, and has a negligible effect on older CRT monitors.

Heap, who it is estimated earns thousands of dollars per day from AdSense clicks on Blackle.com, thinks these critics are missing the point. He told the Sydney Morning Herald in August: “The point isn’t about how much energy this on its own can save. It’s about trying to get people to think about other ways to save energy and constantly think about making little changes to save energy.”

A valid point - disguised as a business entity. We don’t eschew entrepreneurs - we love making money - and environmental businesses are clear up-and-coming moneymakers. But you can’t be both. Either you are an environmental business, or you are doing something to raise awareness. It can’t be both; that’s about as preposterous as Philip Morris paying for anti-smoking ads.

Were it not for the criticism he has been receiving, Heap would be marketing Blackle as an environmental saviour - that’s how it was when it launched, and that’s how people still refer to it in an official sense. But for the money he’s earning, it’s time some real tests were done to determine if his site is really environmentally negligible or, moreover, is actually hurting the environment he purports to save. That would put this issue to rest once and for all, and could potentially make entrepreneur Heap even more money in the process (if he’s right, that is).

We once thought we’d “go black” with Blackle, based on the concept and the claims, but it looks like we’ll be going back (to Google), at least for now.