We’ve seen a few sites attempt to help turn the web green, but most of them have been little more than gimmicks. Blackle purports to conserve energy by offering a “black” version of Google, which it says uses less energy than the engine’s standard white. But Google has gone on to say that black may actually increase the amount of energy consumed by visitors (of course, this didn’t stop Google Israel from turning its site black in honor of Earth Hour).
Today, Y Combinator startup CO2Stats has launched a search engine that aspires to be truly green. Greenseng (sounds like Ginseng) is a standard search engine, pulling results from Google’s Custom Search to produce results. But instead of relying on a dubious method of energy conservation, CO2Stats measures the amount of energy used by its servers and the computers of its users and purchases renewable energy certificates (similar to carbon credits) to offset the environmental toll.
CO2Stats CTO Alex Wissner-Gross says that Greenseng isn’t meant to generate revenue though advertising. Instead, the site is using proceeds from its certification business that allows websites to purchase renewable energy certificates in return for a badge that labels them as “Green Certified”.
But while Greenseng may not directly be earning any money, it may help CO2Stats pull in a slew of new customers. In its next iteration, the site will be using Yahoo’s powerful BOSS search API to incorporate some of its own data. Users will be able to see the environmental footprint of each site in their search results with data pulled from CO2Stats, which may give companies more of an incentive to get Green Certified.
Buying credits to offset seach engine usage isn’t a new idea. In April we wrote about EcoCho, a search engine wrapper for Google and Yahoo that promises to plant “up to two trees” for every 1,000 searches on the site (we noted that zero could fall within that definition). Only a week after launching, Google pulled the site from its advertising partnership – not a good sign, though it didn’t specify the details.
Search For the People By The People
If they want to really be green heres an idea. Turn off all their servers and let Google handle the big boys work.
Shoot, you beat me to it.
Your logic doesn’t work. Greenseng is paying to offset both the environmental costs of its servers and users.
Actually, your logic doesn’t work. According to your post, they’re offsetting their own servers and users, but not Google’s:
Presumably, when you use Greenseng, your CO2 impact looks like this:
(Google_CO2 + Greenseng_CO2) – Greenseng_CO2 = Google_CO2
When you use Google, it looks like this:
Google_CO2
The net effect is the same, and I’d agree with a poster below that CO2 offsets are a “dubious method of energy conservation”, especially in this case, where the extra energy used (and then offset) serves no purpose.
This is a marketing gimmick.
I think the logic goes more like this:
Using Greenseng, impact is:
(Google_CO2+Greenseng_CO2+User_CO2) – (Greenseng_CO2 + User_CO2) = Google_CO2
Using Google:
Google_CO2+User_CO2
Greenseng removes the User_CO2. The company may also decide to pay for whatever Google’s carbon costs are (I’m not sure if they’re going to).
I think it’s your logic that doesnt work Jason. Buying carbon credits has always been dubios. no matter what you say about it, offsetting the energy usage of server has never been correct. You still use energy. Whats the point of buying carbon credits where in reality you still use a large amount of energyto sustain your server? Being green in search is not software related, it is HARDWARE related!
Im waiting for this startup to go to the deadpool. Next…
What? How are they going to buy enough CO2 offsets to offset all of their users? How would they even know how much to buy? I believe you’re probably mistaken, Jason.
Try out Greenseng and it is cool! But I still think Google should do the job instead.
http://www.KidT...ru.blogspot.com
does that mean I should click on the link to your blog??
One could argue that buying renewable energy credits (or carbon credits) is also a “dubious method of energy conservation.”
This is a really great idea as energy startups are really going to take off.
I closed T3chlusive forever. Thanks to anybody that was a reader.
What a blow.
Can’t google kill this in a pinch just by buying the credits themselves? Seems kind of silly.
Scratch that. Just a marketing ploy for the certs. Good one, too.
Google pulled all this kind of site because they don´t keep they Terms of Service. “They use incentive to promote the use or clicks” This is the official position above all this kind of ECOSEARCH that appear along the globe.
It’s wonderfull I think
Yawn.
I really don’t know green’s concept . I think Google is best green site.
How about an actual search engine that just actually uses fewer servers and power?
Gigablast has been doing that without annoyingly naming themselves GreenX or something.
http://gigablas....php?page=green
WOW! This is FANTASTIC – we need so little room really to reduce our use of — or indeed to harvest solar energy – just the confidence to back this new (well actually very old) energy source.. We can all help to make wise climate change resource decisions – read the emergency triage response to current climate change crises at
ActonClimate
This is better concept than Blackle which seems like a gimmick.
I have created a similar search engine (similar in concept) that will appeal to people of Christian faith (www.godlysearch.com). But I’m not really sure how to promote it. It does not help that I do not belong to any church but I think the concept is sound. Any ideas from Techcrunch readers will be appreciated.
http://www.GodlySearch.com
Tell people they’ll burn in hell if they don’t use it? Seems to scare some people into following the religion, so it may work here.
I knew I could always count on useful information from TechCrunch users.
The website is not for those who do not follow a particular religion but for those who already follow it.
Worrying over trivial details is a good way to reduce carbon emissions: no users.
Does anyone know where these sites buy the “carbon credits” from and where that money actually goes? Is it donated to green projects, or does the money get used to plant trees? Or does it just go in Al Gore’s pocket?
A fortnight prior during a lounge in the den, I began meditating on my current accomplishments. I mused, “Oh Mr. Gross-Wisner, you’ve helped spawn a scam of epic proportion, but what if you were to go so far as to create a marketing ploy _for_ said scam?” Enter: Greenseng.
Now, using complex heuristics, you can search the World Wide Web using Google’s search device via “Greenseng,” the definition of nothingness. You see, we’ve provisioned hardware and other energy-consuming resources to allow you to search Google, but “offset” them using the utterly unproven method of “carbon offsets” (purchased automatically by CO2Stats! Just enter payment info!) In essence, we have created “Item A” while simultaneously procuring “Item B” to offset “Item A,” thereby effectively doing nothing!
So, the next time you wish to search Google, but prefer to use an intermediary that exists only to offset its own existence, I advocate Greenseng!
As an alternative try http://www.click4carbon.com
Click4carbon is an environmentally conscious search engine which donates 50% of profits to forestation projects worldwide.
It is also a Social Network. Their ECOmmunity is where you can make friends and discuss all things ‘green’.
They have also developed a fantastic carbon calculator which allows you to compare your footprint against the country you live.
You can also add the Footprint widget to your Facebook or MySpace profile and compare with your friends for a bit of fun.
Give it a go – you’ve got nothing to lose!
I found it on Wikipedia. ‘Eyes’ section . It really works fine and visible difference can be found in a week
http://www.officialiwant.com/
Truevert is another search engine that also claim to be green. It focuses on “green” issues related to environmental and sustainability issues. Truevert uses YAHOO’s BOSS interface to retrieve relevant documents. Here is a list of features that Truevert provides: Truevert search engine