What's the CO2 impact of an Ecosia search?

Can a search engine offset its carbon footprint and go even further? At Ecosia, we’re not only concerned with running on clean energy; we want to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to tackle global climate change.

If the internet were a country it would rank #3 in the world in terms of electricity consumption, according to a recent Greenpeace report. Servers used to run the web need a lot of power. We believe that energy should be produced by renewable sources, and that it is the responsibility of companies to make sure their operations do not harm the planet.

That’s why in 2017, we decided to build our own solar energy plant to ensure that our servers will always be run on 100% renewable energy. The 531kWp plant is now up and running, delivering clean energy to the grid and replacing electricity derived from fossil fuels.

And that’s not all. Since we use our profits to plant trees, every search with Ecosia actually removes approximately 1 kg of CO2 from the atmosphere. How? On average, it takes around 50 searches to finance the planting of a new tree. An average tree planted by Ecosia will remove around 50 kg of CO2 from the air during its lifetime.

This means that, if Ecosia were as big as Google, we could absorb 15% of all global CO2 emissions!

Ecosia is available for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, IE, and many more.

You can also download Ecosia on your mobile:

[niklas]

I can't say it often enough: You guys are true planet-savers! I already have convinced my parents to use Ecosia, and they love it. Hopefully, Ecosia will be as big as Google one day :)

[Malik]

We need more people to use Ecosia! I, myself, got to know it through my music teacher and I recommended it to all of my friends, one of them already uses it and she loves it aswell as I do! Keep on going guys, are are awesome!

[screechingchild]

Now I feel good when I browse the internet for hours!

[pepperpotstudios]

I found this search engine today and now it is on all of my devices. Previously I'ld never thought of the C02 emissions produced from a search engine, even though I pride myself on being eco-friendly. Having found Ecosia I feel so much happier knowing that I am helping plants trees and lower C02 in the atmosphere and being produced. I will do my utmost to help spread the word of this search engine. And I hope one day soon this platform will be bigger than Google. It has so much potential and if very, very effective. Thankyou Ecosia, we need more innovative companies like yourself to change this world, our world, for the better.

[grigorirasputin]

Now, I do like the way that this search engine does not use bias algorithms when conducting a search such as google does.
I am also very happy to support planting trees in places they are desperately needed.
These are very good things but,
Has your organization ever really done deep research into the negative impacts of solar panels, from mining the resources required to make them, through the inevitable and extremely serious problem we face with recycling them/discarding them?
What about the toxins which leak from solar panels into the ground around them as well as into homes where they are installed on the roofs.

These are serious matters I truly wish you would look into, and in a completely unbiased manner.
If you wish to do good... do not attempt to do it, while doing bad at the same time.

I will definitely use your search engine for now, as I see it as the best alternative to those which sell out to the $$$$ of those who claim to want to save the world.
But I will also be looking to communicate with the organization to see if you are taking this matter seriously.

Cheers

The toxic chemicals in solar panels include cadmium telluride, copper indium selenide, cadmium gallium (di)selenide, copper indium gallium (di)selenide, hexafluoroethane, lead, and polyvinyl fluoride. Additionally, silicon tetrachloride, a byproduct of producing crystalline silicon, is highly toxic.

– The problem of solar panel disposal will explode with full force in two or three decades and wreck the environment because it is a huge amount of waste which is not easy to recycle. – Solar panels create 300 times more toxic waste per unit of energy than do nuclear power plants.

The potential environmental impacts associated with solar power — land use and habitat loss, water use, and the use of hazardous materials in manufacturing — can vary
greatly depending on the technology, which includes two broad categories: photovoltaic (PV) solar cells or concentrating solar thermal plants (CSP).

 There are many other, more reliable sources which you can find with enough vigor.

[hrhprophetessofdarknesssex]

Thank you for sharing this with us 🙋🏼‍♀️🌎🌍🌏🌲🌳🌴🏞️💚

[Oro]

Just keep improving your engine, make it sleeker and more appealing overall visually. people love supporting good causes but for some it can be tough with all the features google has.
So just keep improving the engine and we'll spread the word!

[missmaini]

Mother nature must be thanking Ecosia for what it is doing 🌎🌼

[giacjack]

There is still hope for our planet, i'm sure that companies like Ecosia will grow more and more !!

[firefighter]

Just a comment for the algorithm!
Keep up the good work ecosia!

[TheLegoBrickery]

I have gotten my friends and family to use Ecosia! I love it
I appreciate that just by using the internet I can help the environment

[sarahsoares]

A channel I follow mentioned you guys and I finally switched my default search engine to Ecosia. It's so cool how you can make a positive impact by just searching something on the internet. Deifinitely gonna reccomend it to my friends!

[taylorbuckner]

I've already shown this to my friends and I can't wait to see you guys grow and truly change the world!

[npj]

Ich hab es im Gefühl eines Tages wird Ecosia wie ein Lauffeuer das ganze Internet überrennen.

[grandmasmith]

As I watch this, I am being assaulted by the sound of gas powered leaf blowers...some kind of irony at work here.

[reharm_reality]

This is amazing! I just got Ecosia and I'll tell my family and friends to use it too! Best of luck!

[missmaini]

Hoping to see Ecosia as successful as Google one day 💟 I really appreciate to what Ecosia is doing!

[dn]

Continuer comme ça, vous pouvez dépasser Google !! 😄😉

[johnburn]

Thank you for sharing this with us. 🌱🌴🌱🌲🌱🌳

[gosgoran]

Do more things to spread the word about you (like outside youtube). Most people don't know about ecosia, if they did they use it.