A 'black' version of the Google search engine is claiming it can save energy.

Blackle, as it's been christened, was created after someone at Heap Media read a blog post saying that 750 Megawatt-hours a year would be saved if the background on Google's homepage was changed from white to black.

The blog said: "An all white web page uses about 74 watts to display, while an all black page uses only 59 watts."

So, some bright spark (sorry...) at Heap put all their energy (sorry...) into designing a darkened Google replica. So far, Blackle has saved roughly 116,618 Watt hours, which is quite a lot.  

However, it seems that the background only affects energy levels if you use a CRT computer screen (the old school ones). The people at Blackle HQ are taking that lightly though, saying: "We encourage you to set Blackle as your home page. This way every time you load your Internet browser you will save a little bit of energy. You will also be reminded about the need to save energy each time you see the Blackle page load."

www.blackle.com

Here's another energy saving fact for you:

Using an outdoor patio heater for one hour wastes enough energy to boil 400 cups of tea.