Wikipedia's Wales launches Wikia Green

Jimmy Wales is best known for evangelizing Wikipedia, the open-source, nonprofit encyclopedia he co-founded in 2001. On Tuesday his for-profit venture, Wikia, in its fourth year, unveiled a community for all things "green."

Anyone can edit Wikia, just like Wikipedia, which is built to attract people passionate about a given topic rather than to provide a general reference. For example, a Wikipedia article about ExxonMobil provides an overview of corporate history, while Wikia Green might zero in on the company's environmental record, with special emphasis on the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989.

To reduce costs and its load on the electrical grid, Wikia has halved its server need over the past six months, in part through using virtualization and efficient power supplies. Its offices recently moved from San Mateo, Calif., to San Francisco in part to reduce employees' commutes, and the company is applying to be certified by the city's green business program.