Posts tagged ‘computers’

Google goes green

Google goes greenPopular Internet company, Google, has joined more than 30 computer companies to develop the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, a pledge to use and develop energy-efficient computers and associated equipment. By 2010, the impact of the Initiative is expected to reduce PC power consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions by 50%.

Google also plans to become carbon neutral by the end of 2007 by implementing energy-reducing strategies, including using computers with more energy-efficient power supplies and more efficient DC-to-DC converters.

Other Google green initiatives include a fuel-efficient vehicle incentive, a corporate shuttle program for commuting to work, and sourcing organic, locally-grown food for their onsite cafeterias. A massive1.6 megawatt solar photovoltaic array was installed at the Silicon Valley campus, the largest solar installation on any corporate campus in the U.S. and enough to power 1000 local homes. 

In 2005, information and communication equipment, within Australian businesses, generated 7.94 million tonnes of carbon dioxide almost as much as emissions from the civil aviation and metal production industries.

The Australian Computing Society has called on government to extend the Appliance Energy Label system to information and communication equipment for businesses and homes. Our current energy rating system uses stars to rate the energy efficiency of electrical products, including air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, clothes dryers and dishwashers.   

According to Climate Savers Smart Computing, desktop PCs waste nearly half the delivered power through heat loss. Making energy-efficient computers not only cuts greenhouse gas emissions, but reduces costs of operation. Less energy lost to heat, less air-conditioning required to cool offices, data centres, and homes.     

What can you do? Enable the power-saving features on your PC – the single, most important factor reducing PC energy use. Power management places your PC, including monitor and hard drives, into a ‘sleep’ mode when idle. Simply touch the mouse or keyboard to ‘wake-up’ your PC. Or take a few seconds to install CO2 Saver, a lightweight program that manages your computer’s power usage for you. Of course, you already know to turn your PC and monitor off at the wall when not in use.  

Bloggers and website owners can offset the environmental impact of their Internet presence by offsetting associated carbon emission through tickgreen, a simple, fast and inexpensive solution. The process takes around five minutes they use carbon credits issued and regulated by the Australian Government, and you can show the world your commitment to becoming green by displaying the tickgreen badge on your site.  The options are many. Can you make a difference

September 29, 2007 at 6:52 am Leave a comment

June 2020