Green Google?

The carbon footprint of Google has been a topic of debate recently. I first saw an item on the BBC site, which suggested that a Google search generates as much CO2 (7g) as boiling a kettle. Something disputed in the official Google blog, which claimed a figure 0.2g for a search - pretty big difference. The dispute spread through the blogosphere pretty rapidly and The Guardian newspaper stepped in to clear it all up - more or less - and then to enlarge on it further. It turns out that the physicist quoted never said what is claimed to have been said. Ah! The wonders of modern communications - you'd still get "three and fourpence for the dance".