Greener thoughts

Since my last blog on things green, it’s struck me that creating a more energy-efficient computer starts with the prosaic matter of the power supply – the box of circuitry that takes electricity from a wall outlet and distributes the power to the computer’s motherboard, hard drives, and so on. Power supplies have never been the sexiest part of computing and have tended to be cheaply made. Consequently, most computers waste as much as 40% of the electricity they absorb, dispersing the unused energy as heat that can damage other components. And of course, to compensate, companies crank up their air conditioning, further draining energy resources. 

  Component makers are beginning to notice the problem and are developing power supplies that are more energy-efficient. These environmentally-friendly systems can be more expensive, true, but a scheme called 80 Plus has been set up by power suppliers in the US to encourage their uptake. Under the programme, participating utilities pay a rebate to computer sellers each time they sell an 80-Plus compliant machine to one of the energy company’s customers.

In Boston, for instance, the utility NStar pays a $5 rebate for each desktop computer, and $10 for each server, to suppliers such as Tech Networks, which markets Earth-PC and Earth-Server machines that use at least a quarter less power than standard computers. Makes sense?

Thinking green

I’ve been thinking about the energy needed to run the world’s corporate IT infrastructure. According to Gartner,  it adds up to 0.75 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions. And the forecast is for much worse to come. When the environmental cost of keeping data centres cool with air conditioning is considered, the gap between the emissions produced by the two sectors shrinks still further. Yet to date, most of the hi-tech sector’s green focus has been on the need to recycle computer equipment.

It helps that the options for ‘relatively green’ are expanding. The US Environmental Protection Agency is about to turn up the heat on computer makers, with an overhaul of its Energy Star efficiency ratings for computers, developed in concert with the country’s energy department. Among its features, Energy Star’s website offers a power management calculator that displays the reward for activating those power-saving settings in dollars saved and pounds of greenhouse gas emissions prevented. The list of companies that has already embraced Energy Star includes Citigroup, Ford Motor Company and BP and through the scheme, Americans saved enough energy in 2005 to avoid greenhouse emissions equivalent to 23m cars. Not much noise, however, from smaller companies - which is where the change really needs to happen.