Andrew Davey, who lives in Knaphill, got the idea after reading a blog by Mark Ontkush, a green computing specialist based in Boston, USA.
Mr Ontkush had calculated that an all-white web page used 74 watts of electricity to display, whereas an all-black screen uses only 59.
He said that on a website such as Google, which deals with approximately 200 million queries per day, the change from a white screen to a black one would save 15 watts each time it was displayed. That would add up to a significant amount of energy saved per day.
Andrew said: “After reading the article I thought it was quite amazing that it hasn’t been done already. It’s so simple but very effective.”
The youngster set up his own energy-saving black web page alternative to Google called ecosmartsearch, which took him about a week to do.
He said: “It works with the Google search engine and gets the same results as Google. I’ve always been good at computers and I turned my talents to website design, not something easy at all.
“My friends really like it. I’m just trying to get them out of the habit of using Google. I showed a couple of teachers and they think it’s really good. They are really impressed and have started to use it.”
Andrew had previously made a website for his dad’s medal business.
He said: “I wanted to make my own website in which I could gain some income and become better at website design. I decided to put the writing into green to associate it with energy-saving.
“I also wrote: ‘We are saving energy, now it’s your turn,’ on the home page, hoping that people will think about that light they left on and go and turn things off.
“I have a couple of ideas to make things that save energy. I would like to be an entrepreneur and have my own web design company.”
Andrew has also been part of the green team at Woking High School.
He said: “We were looking at energy-saving issues. I think helping the environment is a great thing to start doing. Every little helps.
“I’m really proud of myself for what I’ve done as I don’t think many people of my age have made a proper website and got it on to the web.”
To use Andrew’s search engine and save energy, go to www.ecosmartsearch.com.
© S&B media 2008
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