ACM TechNews

An Energy Diet for Power-Hungry Household PCs

New York Times (08/06/08) P. C2; Lohr, Steve

Microsoft, the nonprofit Climate Savers Computing Initiative, and a startup called Verdiem are collaborating on a project to find ways for the world's 1 billion PCs to use less energy. The Climate Savers group is distributing Edison, free software that helps consumers become more energy efficient. Studies show that half of all electricity consumed by a standard PC is wasted. Gartner estimates that 40 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions resulting from information technology and telecommunications are attributable to PCs, with data center computers accounting for 23 percent, and the rest coming from printers and telecommunications equipment. "If you are going to tackle climate change and curb energy use, you have to deal with consumer devices like PCs," says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Andrew Fanara. The EPA's Energy Star program has developed voluntary power-management standards for PCs, but Fanara estimates that less than half of PCs meet Energy Star standards, partially because more energy-efficient hardware adds to production costs. Edison is a consumer version of Verdiem's PC energy-saving software sold to corporate customers. Other energy-management tools are available from a variety of companies, but Edison allows for more flexibility, specifically in making the settings more or less stringent, analysts say.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/technology/06green.html

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