Blackle

Blackle is a website powered by Google Custom Search and created by Tony Heap of Heap Media, which aims to save energy by displaying a black background and using grayish-white font color for search results. Blackle claims having saved over 8.1 MWh of electrical energy as of June 2020. For comparison, the average American household consumes 11 MWh of electrical energy per year.

Concept
The concept behind Blackle is that computer monitors can be made to use less energy by displaying much darker colors. Blackle is based on a study which tested a variety of CRT and LCD monitors. There is dispute over whether there really are any energy saving effects, especially for users of LCD screens, where there is a constant backlight.

This concept was first brought to the attention of Heap Media by a blog post, which estimated that Google could save 750 megawatt hours a year by utilizing it for CRT screens. The homepage of Blackle provides a count of the number of watt hours claimed to have been saved by enabling this concept.

History
Blackle launched on January 2007. In 2019, Blackle Mag, their blog, shut down with Blackle international also shut down.