Analysis: The impact of eco-friendly search engines

Turning your PC off when it is not in use might do more for the environment than using a 'green' search engine

There has been much discussion in recent weeks over research by Harvard University physicist Alex Wissner-Gross, which suggested that every Google search produced around seven grams of CO2, roughly half that produced by boiling a kettle.

Google dismissed the findings in a blog post by senior vice president for operations, Urs Hölzle, who wrote: "Your own personal computer will use more energy than Google uses to answer your query."

Hölzle pointed out that Google invests heavily in clean energy technologies through its Google.org philanthropic arm, and claimed that the amount of CO2 produced for every search actually came closer to 0.2 grams.

Despite Google's assertions that it is eco-friendly, there are other, much smaller, search engines out there which purport to offer a greener alternative.

Two such engines, Znout and Forestle, were created in an attempt to minimise the impact of IT on the environment which, according to analyst firm Gartner, accounts for about two per cent of the world's energy usage.

Both Znout and Forestle claim to completely offset their CO2 emissions. According to Znout, it neutralises some five grams of CO2 per search by buying renewable energy certificates, while Forestle, which also claims to be CO2 neutral, donates its advertising revenue to the protection of rainforests.

Forestle founder Christian Kroll said that the idea for the search engine came to him 18 months ago as he travelled around the world. "I noticed many times how we humans destroyed nature, and I felt the urge to do something about it," he explained.

Using his knowledge of search engines and programming, Kroll set to work on Forestle singlehandedly, even buying his own servers.

What Forestle actually did is attach a front end onto a Google Custom Search Engine, allowing the site to run with practically no overheads as it uses Google's infrastructure.

"It was not very costly, but it took a lot of time," said Kroll, adding that just 10 per cent of Forestle's income every month went towards its expenses.