Forestle Search Engine: In Search of the Rainforest
The global computing infrastructure currently makes up about two percent of the world's CO² emissions, thus surpassing the aviation industry. To turn the tide, the new German search engine Forestle wants to purchase rainforest tracts with its ad income.
Despite the fact that the horror story that appeared in the London Times the beginning of this year, that a single Google search emits seven grams of CO², was summarily discounted because the Harvard physicist they used as source was proved to be grossly misquoted, the uneasy feeling still lingers about the all too careless misuse of the Internet required for a simple search -- a crime committed without bounds, thanks to netbooks and mobile devices.
Now 25-year-old Christian Kroll and his colleagues have developed a search engine, Forestle, that they hope will relieve some surfers' guilt feelings. The plan is to use ad revenue from the site to help The Nature Conservancy (TNC) buy tracts of rainforest for environmental protection, through the TNC's Adopt an Acre program. The ad money comes from Yahoo, which has sponsored links on the search pages. Each Forestle search should save 0.1 square meters of rainforest, which, averaged over a year for each user, would come to about the size of a large classroom of rainforest space. Just 10% of the ad revenue would go to administrative costs. But Forestle also has CO² in sight: as their FAQ site claims, the search engine is carbon-neutral in that it measures its CO² emissions and purchases renewable energy certificates.
Forestle estimates that 5 million users over a year can buy a rainforest area the size of New York City. Meanwhile they've already saved almost as much acreage so far from being slashed and burned; a counter on the search page keeps track. Recent news of a rainforest in the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica being bought up (see slideshow) should be an encouragement for Kroll and his group.
Forestle advises against artificial ad clicks and searches in that they don't help the cause and threaten their entire business model. Word-of-mouth of the search engine would be most welcome for the project's small team in that the young company's advertising budget is still pretty limited.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Fedora Asahi 40 Remix Available for Macs with Apple Silicon
If you've been anticipating KDE's Plasma 6 for your Apple Silicon-powered Mac, then you're in luck.
-
Red Hat Adds New Deployment Option for Enterprise Linux Platforms
Red Hat has re-imagined enterprise Linux for an AI future with Image Mode.
-
OSJH and LPI Release 2024 Open Source Pros Job Survey Results
See what open source professionals look for in a new role.
-
Proton 9.0-1 Released to Improve Gaming with Steam
The latest release of Proton 9 adds several improvements and fixes an issue that has been problematic for Linux users.
-
So Long Neofetch and Thanks for the Info
Today is a day that every Linux user who enjoys bragging about their system(s) will mourn, as Neofetch has come to an end.
-
Ubuntu 24.04 Comes with a “Flaw"
If you're thinking you might want to upgrade from your current Ubuntu release to the latest, there's something you might want to consider before doing so.
-
Canonical Releases Ubuntu 24.04
After a brief pause because of the XZ vulnerability, Ubuntu 24.04 is now available for install.
-
Linux Servers Targeted by Akira Ransomware
A group of bad actors who have already extorted $42 million have their sights set on the Linux platform.
-
TUXEDO Computers Unveils Linux Laptop Featuring AMD Ryzen CPU
This latest release is the first laptop to include the new CPU from Ryzen and Linux preinstalled.
-
XZ Gets the All-Clear
The back door xz vulnerability has been officially reverted for Fedora 40 and versions 38 and 39 were never affected.